Between the 22nd and 29th of March 2007 DIMSDRIVE Research surveyed its internet community regarding tea and tea-like drinks from plastic bottles. This is the second of a pair of rather similar surveys on tea drinks.

Demographics

6,477 members of the DIMSDRIVE Research internet community completed a private internet-based survey. 40.3% were male, 0.5% in their teens, 16.8% in their twenties, 36.5% in their thirties, 28.6% in their forties, 13.2% in their fifties, and 4.4% aged sixty or older.

This is a survey I’ve been looking for for a while, as I have wanted to do an “Ask What Japan Thinks” on tea, as I do get a few visitors looking for this sort of information, so I hope the information helps you out.

Note that in Japan plastic bottles are called PET bottles, with PET standing for polyethylene terephthalate, it appears. These bottles are usually recycled separately, so most public areas have a bin for these types of bottles only. You are supposed to take the cap off (some bins now have a separate opening for them) and the label, but I must admit to not doing either, although I do always use the correct bin.

Research results

Q1: Which of the following do you drink from plastic bottles (excluding home-made drinks)? (Sample size=6,477, multiple answer)

	All	Male N=2,610	Female N=3,867
Japanese tea (green tea, houji, etc)	74.6%	75.6%	74.0%
Oolong tea	53.5%	54.4%	52.9%
Sports drink	49.1%	53.3%	46.2%
Water	46.6%	44.4%	48.1%
India tea	42.5%	35.0%	47.6%
Blended tea	39.9%	34.5%	43.6%
Vegetable juice	30.1%	28.4%	31.2%
Barley tea	29.8%	30.4%	29.4%
Chinese tea (Jasmine, Pu-eru, etc)	23.5%	17.8%	27.3%
Functional teas	16.8%	15.3%	17.9%
Other teas	0.6%	0.6%	0.7%
Other drinks	24.1%	N/A	N/A
Don’t drink drinks in plastic bottles (to end)	3.5%	N/A	N/A

Q2A: How often do you buy tea-related drinks in 300ml bottles? (Sample size=5,747)

Almost every day	2.6%
Four or five times a week	2.8%
Two or three times a week	6.5%
Once a week	9.7%
Two or three times a month	11.9%
Once a month	11.2%
Once every two or three months	8.9%
Less than that	17.5%
Don’t buy that size	28.9%

Q2B: How often do you buy tea-related drinks in 500ml bottles? (Sample size=5,747)

Almost every day	7.3%
Four or five times a week	6.6%
Two or three times a week	15.6%
Once a week	18.5%
Two or three times a month	19.0%
Once a month	12.9%
Once every two or three months	8.0%
Less than that	6.6%
Don’t buy that size	5.5%

Q2C: How often do you buy tea-related drinks in 900ml or 1 litre bottles? (Sample size=5,747)

Almost every day	0.4%
Four or five times a week	0.1%
Two or three times a week	2.4%
Once a week	4.3%
Two or three times a month	6.4%
Once a month	7.7%
Once every two or three months	8.0%
Less than that	22.7%
Don’t buy that size	48.0%

Q2D: How often do you buy tea-related drinks in 1.5 litres or larger bottles? (Sample size=5,747)

Almost every day	2.3%
Four or five times a week	0.8%
Two or three times a week	4.7%
Once a week	10.0%
Two or three times a month	12.6%
Once a month	13.2%
Once every two or three months	12.2%
Less than that	18.5%
Don’t buy that size	25.7%

By age for the most popular size, the 500ml bottle, there was very little difference in purchase frequency up to the forties age group, but after than the purchase frequency decreased.

Note that the following questions were not asked to those who did not buy any size of plastic bottle, thus the sample size is slightly decreased.

Q3: Why do you buy bottled tea-related drinks? (Sample size=5,721, multiple answer)

Because can close the lid, can drink just a little at a time	69.2%
Because can carry around	66.3%
Because it’s convenient	53.2%
Because can buy anywhere	44.0%
Because easy to store	40.4%
Because there’s a wide selection of teas	17.4%
Because plastic bottles can be reused	15.0%
Because can choose from various sizes	13.8%
Because more tasty than cans or paper packs	4.4%
Other	1.4%
No particular reason	3.1%

Q4: Where do you buy bottled tea-related drinks? (Sample size=5,721, multiple answer)

Convenience store	77.4%
Supermarket	68.3%
Vending machine	54.2%
Drug store	29.8%
Discount store, home centre	29.4%
100 yen, 99 yen shop	24.3%
Station kiosk	21.5%
Cooperative	6.4%
Internet delivery service	2.4%
Other delivery sevice	0.3%
Other	1.2%

Q5: When buying bottled tea-related drinks, which of the following match your way of thinking? (Sample size=5,721, multiple answer)

Choose cheap drinks	39.8%
Decide on brand when at the shop, etc	36.4%
Want to try various brands	33.2%
Frequently buy the same brands	32.0%
Often buy and try out new products once	25.7%
Select brands with a rich taste	24.6%
Select brands with a sweet or astringent taste	22.7%
Select brands with free gifts	22.2%
Select brands that suit my mood or drinking setting	21.7%
Select functional drink brands	13.5%
Select brands with an interesting packaging design	8.4%
Select brands with interesting advertisements	7.4%
Select brands that sell	6.3%
None of the above, no particular method	4.0%

Q6A: What is your most favourite bottled tea-related drink brand? (Sample size=5,747, free answer)

Rank	Brand	Votes
1	O-i Ocha	1,167
2	Namacha	886
3	Soukenbicha	814
4	Iemon	657
5	Juurokucha	342
6	Suntory Oolong-cha	312
7	Afternoon tea	207
8	Suntory Black Oolong-cha	125
9	Hajime	104
10	Healthea	64
11	Karada Meguri-cha	45
12	Rokujou Barley Tea	36
13	Wakabusha	33
14	Lipton Lemone	26
15	Koucha Kaden	25
16	Java Tea	18
17	Tennenbikou Jasmine Tea	15
18	Sara-sara Soba-cha	12
19	Flavan-cha	10
20	Sesame Barley Tea	9

Q6B: What is your most favourite bottled tea-related drink brand? (Sample size=5,747, by sex, free answer)

Rank	Male	Votes	Female	Votes
1	O-i Ocha	594	Soukenbicha	592
2	Namacha	340	O-i Ocha	573
3	Iemon	229	Namacha	546
4	Soukenbicha	222	Iemon	428
5	Suntory Oolong-cha	132	Juurokucha	213
6	Juurokucha	129	Suntory Oolong-cha	180
7	Afternoon tea	76	Afternoon tea	131
8	Suntory Black Oolong-cha	43	Suntory Black Oolong-cha	82
9	Hajime	35	Hajime	69
10	Healthea	35	Karada Meguri-cha	42

[survey 1] [survey 2]

Over the first five days of April 2007 MyVoice surveyed its internet community regarding tea and tea-like drinks. This is the first of a pair of rather similar surveys on tea-related drinks.

Demographics

17,539 members of the MyVoice internet community completed a private internet-based survey. 54% were female, 2% in their teens, 19% in their twenties, 39% in their thirties, 26% in their forties, and 14% in their fifties.

This is a survey I’ve been looking for for a while, as I have wanted to do an “Ask What Japan Thinks” on tea, as I do get a few visitors looking for this sort of information, so I hope the information helps you out.

Note that in Japan plastic bottles are called PET bottles, with PET standing for polyethylene terephthalate, it appears. These bottles are usually recycled separately, so most public areas have a bin for these types of bottles only. You are supposed to take the cap off (some bins now have a separate opening for them) and the label, but I must admit to not doing either, although I do always use the correct bin.

Survey results

Q1: Which of the following drinks do you often drink? (Sample size=17,539, multiple answer)

Green tea-related drinks	69.0%
Coffee	62.9%
Chinese (oolong, etc) tea	40.7%
Other Japanese teas (soba, barley)	39.4%
Black tea	36.6%
Blended tea	32.6%
Milk	32.3%
Vegetable juice	28.3%
Sports drink	26.6%
Mineral water	26.4%
Fruit juice	24.8%
Carbonated drinks	24.0%
Milk-based, fermented milk drinks	16.5%
Cocoa	14.4%
Other	2.0%

Q2: Which of the following tea-related drinks do you often drink from plastic bottles? (Sample size=17,539, multiple answer)

日本語	English	Maker	Percentage
伊右衛門	Iemon	Suntory	49.1%
おーいお茶	O-i Ocha	Itoen	40.2%
爽健美茶	Soukenbicha	Coca-cola	36.3%
生茶	Namacha	Kirin	36.0%
十六茶	Juurokucha	Asahi	25.2%
おーいお茶 濃い味	O-i Ocha rich taste	Itoen	22.4%
濃い生茶	Rich taste Namacha	Kirin	12.9%
ー（はじめ）	Hajime	Coca-cola	11.8%
若武者	Wakamusha	Asahi	7.1%
玉露入りお茶	Gyokuro-iri Ocha	Sapporo	3.9%
おーいお茶 あまみ	O-i Ocha sweet	Itoen	2.9%
生茶　蔵出し封切り	Namacha Kuradashi	Kirin	2.7%
ー（はじめ） 茶織	Hajime Saori	Coca-cola	2.7%
ー（はじめ）じっくり旨み	Hajime Jikkuri Umami	Coca-cola	2.2%
おーいお茶 other	O-i Ocha other	Itoen	2.2%
葉の茶	Hanocha	Dydo	2.0%
おいしいお茶 玉露入り	Oishii Ocha Gyokuro-iri	Sangaria	1.6%
百年茶	Hyakunen-cha	Suntory	1.6%
べにふうき緑茶	Benifuuki Green Tea	Asahi	0.8%
無印良品緑茶	Mujirushi Ryohin Green Tea	Mujirushi Ryohin	0.7%
茶来	Sarai	Kirin	0.6%
Other			8.5%
Don’t drink bottled tea			10.0%
No answer			0.2%

Just as bit of trivia for you all, in the above table 玉露, gyokuro, is a premium variety of green tea, with a very rich and deep flavour and a significantly higher caffeine kick. 100% gyokuro tea is perhaps a bit strong for many people, but when blended with ordinary green tea it adds an extra bite to the drink, although even just a single 500ml bottle can give me a serious and slightly unpleasant caffeine buzz. If you live in the Kansai area, it’s worth heading over to Uji to taste fresh gyokuro on its home ground.

Q3: About how often do you drink tea-related drinks from plastic bottles? (Sample size=17,539, multiple answer)

Almost every day	15.5%
Three or four times a week	13.0%
Once or twice a week	25.1%
Twice or thrice a month	21.7%
Once a month or less	14.6%
Don’t drink bottled tea	10.0%

Q4: What do you pay attention to when buying tea-related drinks in a plastic bottle? (Sample size=plastic bottle drinkers, multiple answer)

Easy to drink	50.6%
Price	48.0%
Sweetness	37.1%
Richness of taste	37.0%
One I usually drink	28.4%
Deliciousness	24.3%
Quantity in bottle	23.0%
Product brand	15.4%
Maker	11.5%
Free present attached	11.2%
Design, packaging	10.8%
Tea colour	9.7%
Advertising impression, image	9.2%
Goes with food	8.6%
Ingredients	7.9%
Well-named product	7.8%
Bottle shape	6.2%
Prominently displayed in shop	5.8%
Origin of product	4.9%
Newness of product	4.7%
Recipe	4.5%
Sell-by date	3.8%
Friend’s recommendation, word of mouth	3.8%
Good concept	1.8%
Other	1.6%
Nothing in particular	4.0%
No answer	0.1%

Q5: When choosing which tea-related drink in a plastic bottle to buy from a shop, how do you choose one from the many types available? (Sample size=plastic bottle drinkers, up to three answers)

Price	38.3%
Easy to drink	37.4%
Sweetness	25.6%
Richness of taste	24.7%
One I usually drink	19.7%
Deliciousness	15.8%
Quantity in bottle	11.2%
Product brand	8.6%
Free present attached	5.8%
Maker	4.8%
Design, packaging	4.8%
Tea colour	4.3%
Ingredients	4.1%
Advertising impression, image	4.1%
Well-named product	3.3%
Goes with food	2.9%
Newness of product	2.3%
Prominently displayed in shop	2.0%
Origin of product	1.8%
Recipe	1.8%
Bottle shape	1.8%
Sell-by date	1.4%
Friend’s recommendation, word of mouth	0.9%
Good concept	0.7%
Other	0.9%
Nothing in particular	2.9%
No answer	0.3%

[survey 1] [survey 2]

This time, a reader named A.P. emailed to ask what brands of chocolate the Japanese like. Off the top of my head, regarding bar-type just chocolate products, Ghana would appear to be the number one brand name. Thinking about chocolate-based sweets, tops would have to be Pocky of course. For premuim brands, the local brand Royce, USA ones like See’s and Mary’s, and Belgium’s (well, manufactured under licence from Belgium) Godiva. There are also a number of smaller speciality chocolatiers dotted all around the country, whose products can sometimes be found in department store basement food courts.

There was a boom in bitter chocolate last year, but that was mostly spurred on by fakery from Hakkutsu! Aru-Aru Daijiten.

This year I translated a St Valentine’s Day survey that listed the top chocolate brands for both co-workers and lovers, which might be a starting point for finding out what Japan thinks. Tops for co-workers, favouring, perhaps, low-end premium brands were Morozoff, Royce and Godiva; for lovers, where taste may outweigh cost concerns, the ranking was Godiva, Royce and Pierre Marcolini.

Looking further around the web I discovered the following from Japan Consumer Marketing Research Institute:

Over the end of October and the start of November 2006 they interviewed 635 people from their online monitor group. 50.1% were female, and for both sexes roughly a third were in their twenties, a third in their thirties, and a third in their forties. This survey looked at brand awareness of both straight chocolate and chocolate-based sweets.

Research results

Q1: Which of the following brands do you know? (Sample size=635, multiple answer)

Rank	Brand	Percentage
1	Glico Pocky	93.8%
2	Morinaga Koeda	93.0%
3	Meiji Milk Chocolate	92.4%
4	Lotte Ghana	88.5%
5	Morinaga Chocoball	88.1%
6	Morinaga DARS	87.8%
7	Lotte Toppo	87.5%
8	Lotte Crunky	84.2%
9	Meiji Fran	83.6%
10=	Meiji Black Chocolate	79.7%
10=	Lotte Almond Chocolate	79.7%
12	Glico Almond Chocolate	78.8%
13	Morinaga Milk Chocolate	77.8%
14	Lotte Cacao no Megumi	65.8%
15	Meiji White Chocolate	61.9%
16	Meiji Strawberry Chocolate	57.9%
17	Meiji Chocolate Kouka	57.7%
18	Hersey’s Kisses Choco	55.1%
19	Glico Mental Balance Choco GABA	49.1%
20	Meiji Deluxe Chocolate	36.5%

Q2: Which of the following brands have you ever tasted? (Sample size=635, multiple answer)

Rank	Brand	Percentage
1	Glico Pocky	88.5%
2	Morinaga Koeda	85.6%
3	Meiji Milk Chocolate	81.9%
4	Morinaga Chocoball	81.6%
5	Morinaga DARS	76.1%
6	Lotte Toppo	75.0%
7	Lotte Ghana	73.9%
8	Lotte Crunky	68.5%
9	Meiji Fran	68.5%
10	Glico Almond Chocolate	66.6%
11	Lotte Almond Chocolate	66.3%
12=	Meiji Black Chocolate	61.5%
12=	Morinaga Milk Chocolate	61.5%
14	Hersey’s Kisses Choco	44.6%
15	Meiji Strawberry Chocolate	42.4%
16	Meiji White Chocolate	42.1%
17	Lotte Cacao no Megumi	39.6%
18	Meiji Chocolate Kouka	37.6%
19	Glico Mental Balance Choco GABA	29.6%
20	Meiji Deluxe Chocolate	20.9%

Q3: Which of the following brands have you eaten within the last three months? (Sample size=635, multiple answer)

Rank	Brand	Percentage
1	Glico Pocky	33.1%
2	Morinaga DARS	29.3%
3	Morinaga Koeda	27.9%
4	Lotte Toppo	25.1%
5	Meiji Fran	23.6%
6	Meiji Milk Chocolate	23.2%
7	Meiji Chocolate Kouka	19.0%
8	Morinaga Chocoball	18.6%
9	Lotte Crunky	18.3%
10	Meiji Black Chocolate	17.2%
11	Lotte Ghana	15.6%
12	Glico Almond Chocolate	15.4%
13	Lotte Almond Chocolate	15.3%
14	Morinaga Milk Chocolate	14.0%
15	Lotte Cacao no Megumi	12.5%
16	Glico Mental Balance Choco GABA	12.2%
17	Meiji Strawberry Chocolate	8.7%
18	Meiji White Chocolate	7.8%
19	Hersey’s Kisses Choco	5.3%
20	Meiji Choco Life	4.8%

Q4: Which of the following brands have come up in conversation within the last three months? (Sample size=635, multiple answer)

Rank	Brand	Percentage
1	Glico Pocky	12.2%
2	Meiji Chocolate Kouka	10.1%
3	Meiji Fran	8.6%
4	Glico Mental Balance Choco GABA	8.3%
5	Lotte Toppo	7.3%
6	Morinaga DARS	7.0%
7	Morinaga Chocoball	6.9%
8	Morinaga Koeda	6.7%
9=	Meiji Milk Chocolate	5.6%
9=	Lotte Cacao no Megumi	5.6%
11	Glico Almond Chocolate	5.1%
12=	Lotte Ghana	4.2%
12=	Lotte Crunky	4.2%
14	Lotte Almond Chocolate	4.1%
15	Meiji Black Chocolate	3.6%
16	Meiji Choco Life	3.1%
17	Morinaga Milk Chocolate	3.0%
18	Meiji Strawberry Chocolate	2.8%
19	Hersey’s Kisses Choco	2.7%
20	Meiji White Chocolate	2.0%

The reason for this Q4 was that GABA, polyphenol, and fibre in dark chocolate had been highlighted by “health” programs as beneficial. Specifically, Lotte Cacao no Megumi, Meiji Chocolate Kouka and Glico Mental Balance Choco GABA bill themselves as functional foods.

Q5: Which of the following brands do you want to buy in the future? (Sample size=635, multiple answer)

Rank	Brand	Percentage
1	Glico Pocky	52.3%
2	Morinaga Koeda	48.2%
3	Morinaga DARS	40.7%
4	Meiji Milk Chocolate	39.9%
5	Lotte Crunky	36.7%
6	Meiji Fran	35.7%
7	Morinaga Chocoball	35.4%
8	Lotte Toppo	34.6%
9	Lotte Ghana	32.6%
10	Glico Almond Chocolate	32.1%
11	Lotte Almond Chocolate	30.0%
12	Meiji Black Chocolate	28.9%
13	Morinaga Milk Chocolate	26.8%
14	Meiji Chocolate Kouka	21.1%
15	Lotte Cacao no Megumi	19.7%
16	Meiji Strawberry Chocolate	19.5%
17	Meiji White Chocolate	19.0%
18	Glico Mental Balance Choco GABA	17.2%
19	Hersey’s Kisses Choco	17.0%
16	Meiji Deluxe Chocolate	9.7%

Next, a summary of one from MacroMill:

They found that 71.0% of their small sample of 490 chocolate eaters wanted to eat chocolate when tired or stressed, 65.3% ate as a snack, and 53.3% when hungry in between meals. The most favourite type of chocolate was bar-type, with 63.9% liking it, 58.1% chose fresh chocolate, and 55.8% almond chocolate. When asked to name the first high-class chocolate brand that came to mind, 49.0% chose Godiva, 6.0% Morozoff, and 4.5% Royce.

Now one from infoPLANT and Desk Top Research as resported by ZD Net:

12,074 users of NTT DoCoMo’s iMode chose to complete a survey available through their mobile phones over a week in the middle of October 2005. 72.1% of this self-selecting sample was female.

Research results

36.0% of men and 55.3% of women bought chocolate at least once a week. Looking at the average amount of money spent on chocolate-based products per month, a quarter spent just 100 to 300 yen, and another quarter spent 300 to 500 yen, or 25.3% and 25.2% repectively. In addition, 15.4% spent betweem 500 and 700 yen, 15.2% 700 to 1,000 yen, and 12.7% 1,000 to 3,000 yen. Looking at the data by sex, 36.5% of men spent over 500 yen per month, whereas nearly half (49.0%) of women spent the same amount.

Regarding where they shopped, the most common location was at a supermarket, with 70.8% using one, followed by 67.0% who got their chocolate fix at a convenience store. Men preferred convenience stores, women supermarkets.

Finally one from MDB Net Survey:

409 women aged 20 or over from both the Tokyo and Osaka conurbations successfully completed an internet-based survey between the 26th and 28th of January 2007, on the subject of St Valentine’s Day chocolate.

Research results

Q1: What brand do you want to send to your true love on St Valentine’s Day? (Sample size=409, multiple answer)

Godiva	36.4%
Hand-made	17.6%
Royce	12.2%
Morozoff	9.3%
Rokkatei	8.6%
Fauchon	8.1%
Maxim’s de Paris	7.6%
Pierre Marcolini	7.3%
Other	6.8%
Don’t want to send any	24.4%

Q2: What country has an image of having delicious chocolate? (Sample size=409, multiple answer)

Belgium	65.5%
Japan	42.3%
Switzerland	40.6%
France	31.3%
Austria	10.8%
UK	10.0%
Germany	9.8%
USA	7.6%
Canada	7.1%
Don’t know, none in particular	7.1%

I hope the above answers your question!