Oronamin C price has increased to 120 yen. The retail price is now as high as an energy drink.

Japan's original nutritional drink, Oronamin C, has raised its price for the first time in 25 years since 1997. Starting in November, it will increase from 105 yen to 120 yen.

The label-less 30-bottle pack of Oronamin C will also see a price increase, going from 3,402 yen to 3,888 yen. Along with Oronamin C, the bottled Five Mini will also be raised from 105 yen to 120 yen.

The reasons for the price increase are:

• Raw material costs
• Packaging material costs
• Rising energy costs

It seems the company could no longer cover these costs through internal efforts.

However, even at 105 yen for a 120ml bottle, it’s still quite an expensive product. Whether in a glass bottle or a can, if we convert it to a 250ml equivalent, it would be around 210 yen per bottle, which is on par with energy drinks in terms of price. Although the transportation costs for glass bottles might be challenging, it still seems like a solid product overall. (Though, supermarket 10-pack deals are quite affordable.)

Recently, there have been news reports about cases selling well, and it seems that Oronamin C’s well-established brand power is remarkable, allowing it to continue selling even without hopping on the “energy drink” trend.

I think I first tried Oronamin C about 30 years ago. I vaguely remember it being at my grandparents' house. It was released in 1965 and had a role as a nutritional drink, so people from that generation likely drank it. The contents are essentially sugar-filled carbonated juice with almost no nutritional effect, though.

By the way, I checked the ingredients while writing this.

Sugars (sugar (domestic production), glucose-fructose syrup), honey, salt / carbonic acid, flavoring, vitamin C, citric acid, caffeine, niacinamide, vitamin B6, vitamin B2, soluble vitamin P, isoleucine, threonine, phenylalanine, glutamic acid Na

Source: Product Information | Oronamin C | Otsuka Pharmaceutical

Per 120ml bottle: Energy 79kcal, Protein 0g, Fat 0g, Carbohydrates 19g, Salt Equivalent 0g, Vitamin B2 2.4mg, Vitamin B6 4.9mg, Niacin 12mg, Vitamin C 220mg

Source: Oronamin C Drink

The sugar content is quite high. A 120ml size is probably manageable, but if this were in a 500ml can, it would be a dangerous amount—about 79g of sugar.

It’s interesting to take another look at Japan’s original nutritional drink.

Update: While researching this article, I became intrigued, so I also wrote a separate historical article about Oronamin C.
Was Oronamin C the world's first carbonated energy drink?