Japanese Food Japanese opinion on Bulgarian yogurt?

Slaf · 20 Oct 2023

I have lived all my life in Bulgaria and as such I have heard many claims about Japanese people loving Bulgarian yogurt specifically, but alas I have never met/nor have found a proper channel to contact anyone from there, so here I am asking you all this question piqued by curiosity:

Do you guys actually really like our wonderful milk product?

thomas · 20 Oct 2023

If I remember correctly, it was a marketing pitch by Meiji that started in the 60s. I have never seen Bulgarian yoghurt in a Japanese supermarket.

More info here:

Meiji started considering how to develop Bulgarian-style yogurt for the Japanese market in the late 1960s. At the time, the only type of yogurt available in Japan was a sweetened, heat-treated fermented milk with a jelly-like texture. Brands such as Meiji honey yogurt, Snow brand yogurt and Morinaga yogurt were distributed in small 80-gram jars and consumed as a snack or dessert, according to Meiji's company history.

From Bulgaria to East Asia, the making of Japan's yogurt culture

How a simple bacterium traveled across time and space to become Japan’s latest food fad.

theconversation.com

johnnyG · 20 Oct 2023

Tho I do sometimes try another type, this has been my go-to yoghurt for many, many years--super common, available everywhere:

Meiji Bulgaria Yogurt | Meiji Group

Popular in Japan for its exceptional taste and health benefits, Bulgaria Yogurt is Meiji's signature yogurt. After receiving official permission from the Bulgarian government, we named the product based on food research we conducted at the Bulgarian Pavilion of the 1970 World Exposition.

www.meiji.com

nice gaijin · 20 Oct 2023

yeah i used to get ブルガリア (burugaria) all the time. I don't know if it was actually Bulgarian, I just figured it was locally made and they just used the name

Lothor · 20 Oct 2023

Slaf said:
I have lived all my life in Bulgaria and as such I have heard many claims about Japanese people loving Bulgarian yogurt specifically, but alas I have never met/nor have found a proper channel to contact anyone from there, so here I am asking you all this question piqued by curiosity:

Do you guys actually really like our wonderful milk product?

Hi Staf, and welcome to the forum.

Japanese people probably associate Bulgaria with yoghurt more than anything else! That doesn't mean that the stuff made in Japan is authentic Bulgarian style yoghurt, and I suspect it isn't from the way words are liberally interpreted in Japan ('Italian' food with nori on it, etc.!). You'll have to come over and try it for yourself!

Hiroyuki Nagashima · 20 Oct 2023

Speaking of Bulgaria, I remember a Bulgarian sumo wrestler from it in Japan.
琴欧洲勝紀(Kotoshuu Katsunori)

日本相撲協会公式サイト

入場券や相撲観戦の情報も充実。番付の即日発表や相撲歴史文化等、最新情報提供中。

www.sumo.or.jp

Kotooshu Katsunori Rikishi Information

Mikawa Ossan · 20 Oct 2023

Hiroyuki Nagashima said:
Speaking of Bulgaria, I remember a Bulgarian sumo wrestler from it in Japan.
琴欧洲勝紀(Kotoshuu Katsunori)

日本相撲協会公式サイト

入場券や相撲観戦の情報も充実。番付の即日発表や相撲歴史文化等、最新情報提供中。

www.sumo.or.jp

Kotooshu Katsunori Rikishi Information

I remember him! I didn't know he was from Bulgaria, though. I like how his corporate sponsor in the photo you linked is Meiji with an ad for Bulgarian yoghurt.

mdchachi · 20 Oct 2023

I never even realized that yogurt was associated with Bulgaria. I just thought it was a brand name.

nice gaijin · 21 Oct 2023

Hiroyuki Nagashima said:
Speaking of Bulgaria, I remember a Bulgarian sumo wrestler from it in Japan.
琴欧洲勝紀(Kotoshuu Katsunori)

日本相撲協会公式サイト

入場券や相撲観戦の情報も充実。番付の即日発表や相撲歴史文化等、最新情報提供中。

www.sumo.or.jp

Kotooshu Katsunori Rikishi Information

ohh! He was one of my favorite wrestlers to watch, because he was so much smaller than the others but still hung with the big boys

I had forgotten about his sponsor, but now I do remember seeing that keshō-mawashi and thinking that it was perfectly designed to imitate the tub of yogurt packaging. Definitely a clever marketing decision to sponsor a Bulgarian wrestler like that.

Japanese Food Japanese opinion on Bulgarian yogurt?

Slaf

Registered

thomas

Unswerving cyclist

From Bulgaria to East Asia, the making of Japan's yogurt culture

johnnyG

Sempai

Meiji Bulgaria Yogurt | Meiji Group

nice gaijin

Resident Realist

Lothor

Freelance proofreader

Hiroyuki Nagashima

TAN

日本相撲協会公式サイト

Mikawa Ossan

いかんわ！

日本相撲協会公式サイト

mdchachi

Moderator

nice gaijin

Resident Realist

日本相撲協会公式サイト

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