Drinking vinegar in Japan

MyVoice recently conducted its second survey into the topic of the consumption of drinking vinegar.

Demographics

Between the 1st and 5th of May 2007 14,891 members of the MyVoice internet community completed an online survey. 54% of the sample was female, 1% in their teens, 18% in their twenties, 39% in their thirties, 27% in their forties, and 15% in their fifties.

A few years ago there was quite a boom in drinking vinegar, but recently I don’t hear of it so often, perhaps in part due to the downfall of Aru-Aru Daijiten. I do drink it regularly, and recently one of my favourite places to do so is C’s Garden Cafe.

In addition, I have prepared an information page on the health benefits of drinking vinegar.

Research results

Q1: Have you ever drunk drinking vinegar? (Sample size=14,891)

	This survey May 2007	Last survey August 2004
Currently drinking	12.5%	17.5%
Have drunk	56.3%	44.7%
Not drunk	31.2%	37.7%

Q2: What kind of drinking vinegar have you drunk? (Sample size=vinegar drinkers, multiple answer)

	This survey May 2007	Last survey August 2004
Black vinegar	72.0%	65.5%
Apple vinegar	67.8%	69.4%
Moromi vinegar	18.5%	19.4%
Plum vinegar	12.1%	13.9%
Aromatic vinegar	10.9%	9.3%
Wine vinegar	7.6%	7.0%
Shiso (perilla) vinegar	6.8%	N/A
Lemon vinegar	5.3%	4.6%
Persimmon vinegar	1.1%	1.0%
Millet vinegar	0.7%	0.6%
Other	7.4%	4.5%
No answer	0.1%	0.1%

Q3: What kind of effects do you expect to see from drinking vinegar? (Sample size=vinegar drinkers, multiple answer)

	This survey May 2007	Last survey August 2004
Recover from fatigue	56.0%	57.7%
Improve blood flow	45.5%	50.8%
Just because it seems good for health	39.7%	39.0%
Lose weight	32.1%	35.0%
To prevent heat exhaustion	17.7%	26.6%
Beautiful skin	12.7%	15.4%
Reduce cholesterol	11.0%	11.9%
Reduce blood preassure	10.4%	9.1%
To increase appetite	8.8%	11.2%
To cure constipation	7.7%	10.1%
To relieve cold feet and hands	6.1%	6.0%
To obtain calcium	1.7%	2.4%
Other	1.8%	1.9%
No particular expectations	3.4%	2.7%
No answer	0.2%	0.2%

Q4: How do you drink drinking vinegar? (Sample size=vinegar drinkers, multiple answer)

Diluted with water	65.2%
Straight	33.3%
Mixed with fruit juice	16.6%
With honey	14.2%
With carbonated water	10.8%
Other	7.2%
No answer	0.7%

Q5: Where do you buy drinking vinegar? (Sample size=vinegar drinkers, multiple answer)

Supermarket	60.3%
Drug store	20.8%
Mail order	13.6%
Discount store	9.6%
Deprtment store	6.8%
Convenience store	6.1%
Off-licence/liquor store	3.3%
Vinegar speciality shop	1.8%
Other	7.4%
Don’t buy it myself	10.2%
Other	0.2%

Q6: Do you think you’d like to drink vinegar in the future? (Sample size=14,891)

	This survey May 2007	Last survey August 2004
Yes	35.7%	40.3%
No	28.7%	23.0%
Don’t know	32.7%	32.6%
No answer	2.9%	4.0%