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SAITAMA, Japan

Human Data Laboratory, operators of My Life News, a portal website that shares information on health and lifestyles, has performed an awareness survey on the Japanese yogurt market among consumers in six foreign countries as well as in Japan.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190724005928/en/

Fig. 1 (Graphic: Business Wire)

The survey target countries were the USA, the UK, France, Germany, and two countries where there is a firm cultural tradition of eating yogurt, Bulgaria and Greece, together with Japan for comparison’s sake. Target respondents were men and women, at least 20 years of age. There were 500 participants from the USA, and 100 participants from each of the European countries as well as Japan.

In recent years, a wider variety of yogurts that include strains of Lactic Acid Bacteria with a wide range of benefits have gone on sale in Japan. There is a lot of buzz within the yogurt market in Japan, but the survey sought to understand how this market is viewed by consumers in other countries.

Result Summary

1. Consumers outside Japan are surprised at the number of Lactic Acid Bacteria strains there are in the Japanese market.

   When shown the scale of the yogurt market in Japan as well as a list of representative yogurts and strains of Lactic Acid Bacteria available in the Japanese market, 84% of respondents thought that yogurt products in their own countries were not as varied. This is in response to the wide range of yogurt types.

   In addition, 86% of respondents indicated surprise at the variety of Lactic Acid Bacteria strains there are for Japanese yogurts.

2. Consumers outside Japan see that Lactic Acid Bacteria research is more advanced in Japan. They are also surprised at the health benefits.

   When shown research data indicating the health benefits of the Lactic Acid Bacteria strains in yogurts sold in Japan, 88% of respondents believed that Lactic Acid Bacteria research in Japan is very advanced, 84% of respondents were surprised at the health benefits from yogurts sold in Japan, and 86% believed that it would be good to sell such yogurts in their own countries as well. Respondents were not only surprised but also indicated their envy of Japanese yogurts in many responses.

3. The level of Lactic Acid Bacteria research in Japan is unexpected, yet also very Japanese.

   Furthermore, when shown the research facilities for corporate research into Lactic Acid Bacteria in Japan, as well as the number of stocked strains of lactic bacteria, 79% of respondents found the level of yogurt research at Japanese companies to be unexpected. When then asked if there was a correlation with the nature of the Japanese people, 89% of respondents felt that the passion for research was indicative of Japanese companies.

Note: The percentages in the text below have been rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent.

From Survey Results

• Of course! Bulgarians love yogurt and yogurt is a part of a Bulgarian culture!

The survey began with questions to assess respondents’ opinions of yogurt as a means to understand what non-Japanese consumers think yogurt is.

In response to questions asking whether respondents like yogurt, on average, roughly 60% of non-Japanese respondents answered that they love yogurt. That number climbed to 90% in Bulgaria, however. This result is indicative of the extent to which yogurt is a part of Bulgarian culture.

• Bulgarians and Greeks eat yogurt, knowing that it is good for their stomachs and intestines.

The survey went on to assess why non-Japanese consumers eat yogurt and what they expect when doing so. (Fig. 1)

The most significant response in Japan was for the 59% who believe it to be good for the health. On average, the six countries outside of Japan saw 74% of respondents indicating that they ate yogurt because it is delicious. Of further interest were questions specific to health. A greater percentage of respondents in both Bulgaria and Greece said they ate yogurt because the Lactic Acid Bacteria it contains is good for you, that it helps to maintain stomach health, or that it helps to maintain digestive health. Those respondents more frequently gave answers that were specific to health benefits.

Both Bulgaria and, more recently, Greece, are famous for yogurt, particularly noting the recent boom in Greek yogurt. It was clear from the responses that in these countries with a stronger habit of eating yogurt, there is a greater awareness of the digestive and health benefits of eating yogurt. (Fig. 2)

• Non-Japanese consumers are surprised at the number of strains of Lactic Acid Bacteria in Japan.

How then, is the Japanese yogurt market perceived among non-Japanese consumers? Questions were asked after showing respondents data that includes the roughly 200 varieties of new yogurt products released annually that extol their health benefits, the scope of the yogurt market, believed to exceed 370 billion yen, and a list of the representative yogurts sold in the market as well as the 38 different product names and strain names for the Lactic Acid Bacteria strains included in those yogurts.

The results were indicative of surprise at the variety of Lactic Acid Bacteria strains in the Japanese market as well as the wide variety of yogurts using those strains, with 86% of respondents being surprised at the great number of Lactic Acid Bacteria strains in use in yogurts in Japan, 85% of respondents being surprised at the number of different yogurts with health benefits available in Japan, and 84% of respondents wishing that such a variety of yogurts was available in their own country. (Fig. 3)

• Surprise at the progress made in Lactic Acid Bacteria research in Japan.

Questions were also asked after showing respondents research papers that attest to the effects of yogurts sold in Japan with identical strains of Lactic Acid Bacteria.

A large percentage, 88%, of respondents saw the research data and came away thinking that Lactic Acid Bacteria research in Japan was very advanced. Additionally, 84% of respondents were surprised at the types of health benefits available from yogurts sold in Japan, and 86% of respondents wishing that such types of yogurt were available in their own country. In addition to respondents’ surprise, their answers were also indicative of envy. (Fig. 4)

• Bulgarians and Greeks, used to authentic yogurt, were also surprised at the Lactic Acid Bacteria strains and yogurt varieties in Japan.

When we break down the results noted above at a country level, 98% of respondents in Bulgaria thought it wonderful that there were yogurts with such health benefits, with a similarly high percentage, 96%, of respondents in Greece being surprised at the health benefits in yogurts sold in Japan, and believing that Japanese research into Lactic Acid Bacteria was very advanced. Even in a country famous for yogurt, Japanese research into Lactic Acid Bacteria strains and the health benefits of Japanese yogurts were held in high regard. (Fig. 5)

• High marks for Japanese companies passionately researching Lactic Acid Bacteria.

The survey ended with questions designed to rate the Japanese companies engaged in Lactic Acid Bacteria research, after showing respondents the external appearance of research facilities and some examples of the number of stocks of Lactic Acid Bacteria strains maintained at those facilities.

In addition to the high percentage, 90%, of respondents who thought that the Lactic Acid Bacteria research at Japanese companies was wonderful, 79% of respondents either had no idea that Japanese companies were conducting Lactic Acid Bacteria research or found that the extent to which yogurt is researched in Japan to be unexpected. Conversely, connections were made with the nature of the Japanese people, with 89% of respondents believing that the passion for research was very indicative of a Japanese company. (Fig. 6)

More on This Survey

The original source-language text of this announcement is the official, authoritative version. Translations are provided as an accommodation only, and should be cross-referenced with the source-language text, which is the only version of the text intended to have legal effect.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190724005928/en/