Japan Food & Beverage: U.S. Nielsen Weekly (05/30/26): seasoning firm; instant noodles price-led growth

Research evidence excerpt

Japan Food & Beverage: U.S. Nielsen Weekly (05/30/26): seasoning firm; instant noodles price-led growth

Accessible version

Japan Food & Beverage

U.S. Nielsen Weekly (05/30/26): seasoning

firm; instant noodles price-led growth

Industry Overview

09 June 2026

Two-week update covering May 17 to May 30 Equity

This report reviews sales trends of Japanese food manufacturers in the U.S. market Japan

based on retail scanner data provided by NielsenIQ scanner data. The coverage spans Food & Beverage

AOC (all outlets combined, including convenience stores), club stores (including Costco),

pet specialty stores, and Amazon 1P. In the two weeks ending May 30, Kikkoman ManabuResearch SumogeAnalyst >>

delivered solid growth of c. +7%, indicating continued resilience. At Kewpie, while overall BofAS Japan

+81 3 6225 8855

company-wide growth moderated, mayonnaise showed clear improvement in manabu.sumoge@bofa.com

momentum, posting growth in the low-to-mid 30% range. Yuxi Dai >>

Research Analyst

For instant noodles, trends continued to diverge across regions. Japanese manufacturers BofAS Japan

yuxi.dai@bofa.com

saw sales growth primarily driven by pricing, with volumes declining, while Korean

players sustained expansion on the back of continued volume growth. Performance in

frozen foods remained mixed across companies. Ajinomoto continued to face

challenging conditions, whereas Nichirei saw a marked improvement in growth,

supported by volume gains.

Exhibit 1: Condiments remain solid; instant noodles continue to grow on price hikes; frozen

foods show mixed trends across companies.

US Nielsen: sales trends for food companies

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx

1 w/e 1 w/e 1 w/e 1 w/e 1 w/e 1 w/e 1 w/e

$ Sales YoY (%)