Popular Japanese vitamin C drink makes South East Asia debut in Indonesia
The company’s manufacturing and sales partner in Indonesia, PT Amerta Inda Otsuka, began shipping the product in early July from a plant in Jakarta, and is hoping to sell 260 million units annually — essentially amounting to approximately one bottle per person living in Indonesia.
The carbonated energy drink comes in 120ml bottles, and according to Otsuka, contains the equivalent of 11 lemons’ worth of vitamin C, as well as honey, vitamins B2 and B6, and an assortment of other nutrients.
It can be found at supermarkets and traditional markets, where each bottle retails for Rp5,000, and is also sold in South Korea, Hong Kong, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain the UAE and Oman.
Beverage focus
PT Amerta Indah Otsuka’s corporate communications director Ricky Suhendar told NutraIngredients-Asia: “Indonesia is a growing country with a population of more than 260 million. There have been plenty of lifestyle changes (over the years), especially in urban areas. Residents in these areas engage a lot of fast-paced activities, but still require a healthy diet.
“Oronamin C is a well-known product of Japanese origin, first launched in 1965, and sold over 30 billions bottles in Japan between then and 2011 (averaging over 650 million bottles per year).
“The acceptance of the product is very good in Japan, and we believe that with the current Indonesian market, the drink will be welcomed by consumers, and answer the challenges of an urban lifestyle in Indonesia.”
In terms of whether or not Otsuka is planning to release more products on the Indonesian market, he said, “At the moment, Otsuka will focus on Oronamin C, and educating consumers about its benefits.”
He added that the company would focus on Indonesia for now, and would reveal any plans it might have for other countries only after it was more well established there.
The firm is also keeping mum about how much investment and production capacity is involved at its plant in Sukabami Regency, West Java, where other nutritional beverages such as Pocari Sweat are manufactured.
