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July 06, 2025
 

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SOFT DRINKS

The World Health Organization has backed tobacco taxes and price rises for decades, and has called for taxes on alcohol and sugary drinks in recent years, but this is the first time it has suggested a target price rise for all three products.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 4, 2025
WHO pushes countries to raise prices on sugary drinks, alcohol and tobacco by 50%
The move by the United Nations health agency is the strongest backing yet for taxes to help tackle chronic public health problems.
Prices of nearly 3,000 food and beverage products will rise in October, due to the soaring costs of ingredients.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 30, 2024
Food price hikes in Japan in October to be largest so far in 2024
Prices of 2,911 products from 195 major food and beverage manufacturers will be raised in October, surpassing April’s figure.
Bottles of Coca-Cola inside a fridge in the Olympic Village.
OLYMPICS
Aug 7, 2024
Health experts urge Olympics to cut ties with Coca-Cola
Events at the Paris Games have been lined with advertising for the ubiquitous fizzy drinks of Coca-Cola, which has been sponsoring the Olympics since 1928.
Green tea has the largest share of Japan's soft drink market.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 7, 2024
Major Japanese beverage-makers renewing green tea products
Green tea has the largest share of Japan's soft drink market.
Cans of Asahi Super Dry beer move on the production line inside an Asahi Breweries plant in Moriya, Ibaraki Prefecture, in April 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 1, 2024
With U.S. push, Asahi aims to sate evolving tastes
The drink-maker is placing its “premium” offerings and low-alcohol and nonalcoholic beverages front and center in a bid to differentiate itself.
Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan plans to introduce several thousand more vending machines with digital price displays that can be controlled remotely to vary prices according to demand.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 15, 2023
Coca-Cola Japan to expand trial of dynamic-price vending machines
The dynamic pricing scheme allows the prices of vending machine items to be raised when demand is high and lowered when sales are low.
An AI-generated model is featured in Ito En's latest green tea brand commercial.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 19, 2023
Beverage company Ito En taps AI actress for TV commercial
The commercial is receiving mixed reviews from netizens, with some praising the quality of the tech while others worry about job loss.
Suntory Beverage & Food's chief executive Makiko Ono sees Australia as a model for integrating canned alcoholic drinks into offerings in other global markets.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 31, 2023
Suntory Beverage sees Australia as model for can cocktail growth
The company is considering building a factory in Australia's northeastern city of Brisbane to produce canned drinks.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 11, 2023
‘Forest’ of carbon dioxide-sucking vending machines planned in Japan
Starting with about 30 units in the Kanto and Kansai area, the experiment is part of plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2023
Sudan conflict threatens supply of key soft drink ingredient
About 70% of the world's supply of gum arabic, for which there are few substitutes, comes from the acacia trees in the Sahel region that runs through Sudan.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 28, 2023
Suntory Beverage’s first female CEO seeks $5 billion in drinks acquisitions
The company sees potential in health-related drinks in the U.S., Asia and regions where Suntory has currently little presence, said Makiko Ono.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 16, 2023
Japan's upscale vending machines now offer caviar and wagyu
Aided by the pandemic push to minimize contact with others, food-dispensing machines have emerged as a rare spark of growth for the ailing sector.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 19, 2022
Suntory Beverage's first female CEO wants to see more women as managers
Makiko Ono will be one of only a handful of women to lead a big Japanese company once she takes over the job early next year.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 12, 2022
Japan liquor businesses turn to nonalcoholic drinks to attract Gen Z
The global market value for low- and nonalcoholic drinks rose to just under $10 billion in 2021 from $7.8 billion in 2018.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 6, 2022
Kirin Beverage ordered to take action on misleading labels
Although the Kirin Holdings unit labeled a Tropicana melon taste juice product as 100% melon, it contained only 2% melon juice, while the remaining 98% was grape, apple and banana juice.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Oct 18, 2019
Bottled water sellers ponder aluminum cans over plastic
Global bottled water giants are ramping up trials of easily recyclable aluminum cans to replace plastic that pollutes the world's seas. Sound like a slam-dunk for the environment? Not entirely.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KONBINI WATCH
May 5, 2018
Coca-Cola Frozen Lemon: What's Coke without the fizz?
It's hot out. Accordingly, everyone is seeking out cooler treats to get them through a summer that hasn't even fully settled in yet. Coca-Cola Japan is betting that people need a fix of cool in 2018, and have introduced a new product that takes their signature soda once more into uncharted territory....
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 14, 2017
British startup hopes to cut plastic waste with innovative water balls
Small transparent spheres filled with natural or flavored water could help provide a solution to London's plastic waste problem, according to the startup company based in the British capital that manufactures them.
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 18, 2016
Britain taxes soft drinks, will use the money to promote children's health
Britain on Thursday launched a strategy aimed at curbing childhood obesity by taxing companies that sell sugar-laced soft drinks and investing that money in programs to encourage physical activity and balanced diets for school children.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 13, 2015
Suntory gains ground in battle of the machines
Suntory Beverage is buying a bigger piece of a shrinking but lucrative pie with its purchase of the Japan Tobacco's vending machine subsidiary.
Japan braces for more quakes as authorities dismiss doomsday hype
Evacuees from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecuture, arrive at Kagoshima Port on Friday.
Hidden AI prompts in academic papers spark concern about research integrity
Waseda University is one of 14 institutions in eight countries found to have used hidden prompts in research papers.
A prophesied disaster (likely) won’t strike Japan this weekend
A viral manga prediction of a July 5 disaster has gripped Japan with anxiety and triggered an economic impact, but experts warn that while such dates are unreliable, the threat of a massive earthquake remains real. 
Residents of Tokara Islands begin evacuation as seismic swarm continues
Details about evacuations from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecture, is seen written on a whiteboard in the city of Kagoshima on Thursday.
U.S. military apologizes over Okinawa sexual assault case
Col. Neil Owens (right), chief of staff for the 3rd Marine Division, bows in apology at the Okinawa Prefectural Government office in Naha on Thursday.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.
As Southeast Asia heats up, a Japanese cooling giant sees a major opportunity
An employee of Daikin Cambodia explains the use of different tools during an air conditioner installation training session in Phnom Penh. Daikin is one of Japan’s oldest air conditioning companies, but as Japan’s population falls, the firm is keying in on overseas growth.

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