Global Umeshu Market 2025 – 2034

Reports Description

As per the Umeshu Market conducted by the CMI Team, the global Umeshu Market is expected to record a CAGR of 7.10% from 2025 to 2034. In 2025, the market size is projected to reach a valuation of USD 1.37 Billion. By 2034, the valuation is anticipated to reach USD 2.69 Billion.

Overview

The umeshu market keeps growing, backed by the world’s growing interest in Japanese food, people’s increasing affection for high-end alcoholic drinks, and the wider appeal of old-school craft drinks in global markets. Umeshu, known to balance sweet and sour tastes, is becoming more popular in cocktails, fancy restaurants, and stores. The middle-aged generation population looking for real Japanese drinks and younger folks trying new flavors drive this demand.

Big companies now offer many types of umeshu, including bubbly, aged, and low-alcohol options, to reach more customers and make their products more attractive. Japan stays the main market because of its strong cultural roots, strong local drinking habits, and well-known producers. Europe and North America show big growth, owing to more imports and the popularity of Japanese dining experiences. At the same time, the Asia Pacific region outside Japan is shaping up to be a promising market.

Key Trends & Drivers                                                                                                  

The Umeshu Market Trends present significant growth opportunities due to several factors:

• Increasing Health Consciousness: Japanese plum wine is created from ume plums, sugar, and grain alcohol. This beverage’s ability to combine the sweet and acidic flavors of the sugar and plums creates an intriguing sensory experience, which is why it works so well. Because of its exceptional flavor, this drink is usually best enjoyed on its own, even if it is a component in a few noteworthy cocktail recipes. Umeshu’s alcohol content is often between 10% and 15%, making it comparable to the majority of commercial wines available. However, in some instances, like with the well-known plum wine made by Choya, the alcohol content of umeshu can reach up to 35%. Furthermore, consumers are now looking for beverages with health benefits, and umeshu has that property of high antioxidant. Customers are looking for drinks with health and functional advantages, including Umeshu’s potent antioxidants. In Japan, umeshu is well-known for being a fantastic source of several essential nutrients, including calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, and numerous others that support heart and bone health. In addition to this, antioxidants found in all of these nutrients work to counteract the negative effects of free radicals on the body. Because of its alkalinizing effect, which lowers the body’s acidity and brings it back to a neutral level, plum wine was once thought to be a great tonic that might prevent common symptoms like headaches, nausea, and constipation.

• Innovation in Production and Sustainable Packaging: In Japanese tradition, parents prepare a batch of umeshu as a birth present for their kid. When the child reaches the legal drinking age of 20 years old in Japan, this umeshu is then matured for a long time before being shared and consumed together for the first time. Homemade umeshu manufacturing steadily declined as commercial production increased owing to technological and food preservation developments. Businesses started mass-producing umeshu, which increased its accessibility to the general population and gave them a large selection of brands and varieties. Furthermore, umeshu has become quite popular in global markets and has crossed Japanese borders in the current period. As Japanese food and culture, such as sushi, ramen, and drinks like umeshu, have gained popularity throughout the globe, umeshu has become a popular product for people looking for genuine, distinctive, and tempting Japanese flavors abroad. Numerous new varieties of umeshu have surfaced in recent years. Each type of umeshu has its own distinct flavor profile due to the utilization of different plum varieties, such as the Nankou-ume plum, which is known for its sweet and mellow taste. In addition to this, umeshu is now a component of desserts, cocktails, and even savory foods. It is claimed that its sour and sweet flavor improves and gives depth to a variety of cuisines. Thus, increasing global interest in Japanese culture and cuisine drives greater adoption of the Umeshu market globally.

Significant Threats

The Umeshu Market has several major threats that may hinder growth and profitability now and in the future, including:

• Competition From Other Alcoholic Beverages: One of the major threats to the expansion of the umeshu market is the existence of severe competition from the already existing categories of the alcoholic beverage world, especially wines, beers, and spirits. These categories have the advantages of being very well known worldwide in terms of brands, being very close to their consumer base in terms of loyalty, and having very good distribution channels, which makes it very hard for small traditional drinks like umeshu to take up a significant volume of the market. In addition, the trend of segmenting the markets through the launch of flavored and fruit-infused variants has resulted in the partial overlap of umeshu’s unique selling propositions with those mainstream segments (i.e., sweet, smooth, and fruit-based). Besides, price causes the phenomenon as well because beers and wines, which are produced on a large scale, offer their customers a lower cost per unit of alcohol, thus attracting consumers who are sensitive to the price of the product. If umeshu wants to survive as an alternative in the biggest and most diversified market scenario, it must not only be alive and present but also have a strong and targeted marketing strategy with a clear differentiation from the others. Thus, increasing competition from other beverages will hinder the market growth.

Opportunities

• Innovation in Ready-to-Drink (RTD) Formats: The growing popularity of ready to drink (RTD) alcoholic beverages presents a strong opportunity for the umeshu market, with consumer preferences increasingly favoring convenience, flavor variety, and novel experiences. For instance, Sapporo Breweries launched plum‑based, or ume-flavored, “Otoko Ume Sour Salty Plum,” a canned RTD (chūhai style) available in 350 ml and 500 ml sizes, which uses ume flavor and is targeted as a refreshing, lightly alcoholic product. This suggests that Umeshu producers could expand into RTDs—canned, low‑ABV, fruit/plum‑flavored variants—as a way to capture new market segments, ride flavor trends, and tap into RTD growth momentum.

Category Wise Insights

By End User

• Residential: Consumer demand for umeshu, which has a rich heritage and is flavorful but still easily consumable at home, is driving market growth. Umeshu is adored for its sweet taste, softness, good handling, and relatively low alcoholic strength, that is why it is often used as a drink for a casual setting, a gift, or a seasonal celebration. Umeshu in Japan and East Asia have been household staples, thus their popularity in Western countries, where consumers are more and more familiar with traditional Japanese products. Moreover, the increasing use of e-commerce and the accessibility of smaller, single-serve, or ready-to-drink (RTD) formats have been a big plus point for the segment as they have made it easy for the consumers to enjoy Umeshu at home.

• Commercial: The commercial side of the alcohol market includes all those places where the end-users are restaurants, izakayas, hotels, bars, and other hospitality venues. All mentioned institutions either serve Umeshu as a standalone drink or in mixology formats. Contrary to the Umeshu dedicated traditional Japanese drink offering in local eateries and izakayas, Umeshu is now increasingly being utilized in Western restaurants and cocktail bars as a way of diversifying the alcohol menus with Japanese-style inspired options. Umeshu is a versatile product for which the commercial user can select one of the following ways of serving: Chilled, with ice, warm, or in the form of cocktails owing to its versatile nature. Also, the popularity of Japanese gastronomy and the fusion cuisine trend is growing in Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia, which is the reason why countless Umeshu lovers coming to restaurants in these places would find their favorite drink available there.

By Distribution Channel

• Convenience Stores: Convenience stores are very important when it comes to the distribution of Umeshu, especially in Japan and the rest of Asia, where these stores are a very popular place for quick & daily buys. Convenience stores, with their compact and strategically located outlets, are a perfectly suitable choice for customers in need of Umeshu of various kinds (such as small bottle Umeshu, Umeshu in cans, or limited-edition seasonal flavors of Umeshu). Owing to the easy availability of RTDs and innovative package formats, companies have a very wide consumer base and are able to capture even the young urban consumers who are always on the move.

• Supermarkets: Supermarkets are a substantial distribution channel for Umeshu and are especially utilized for large and family-sized packaging. Umeshu is a culturally well-rooted product, supermarkets can be considered as regular grocery shops that meet the local population’s Umeshu needs while presenting a wide selection of Umeshu products catering to various tastes, prices, and quality ranges. Apart from that, supermarkets also include promotional displays and other marketing activities, such as tasting and special offerings, which allow them to attract more people and get them to try their brands.

• Retailers: Retailers, including liquor stores and shops that sell unusual drinks, are an important part of the chain of distribution of premium and imported Umeshu. These stores, in most cases, offer only a few, but very high-quality, handmade, and even very old, Umeshu products, targeting only those who are passionate about and recognizable as being of high quality. Abroad, retailers are very important in spreading the word about the traditional Japanese alcohol and also in educating people—giving tasting notes, offering food pairings, and sharing the story of the origin of the product.

• On-premises: On-premises segment means the places where alcohol is consumed directly—restaurants, bars, hotels, and lounges. It is a major contributor to the exposure and experiential charm of Umeshu. There are many ways in which bars, restaurants, hotels, and Japanese-themed eateries become involved in the visibility of the drink—one of which is giving the consumers an opportunity to sample it in a variety of usages such as mixology or pairing it with food. Japanese mixology has become very popular lately and consumer interest in authentic and rare flavors is also growing, so Umeshu is gaining very quickly as an ingredient for fusion cocktails and signature drinks. This segment also allows luxurious and old Umeshu to be presented as part of the still high-end offering and thus continue to enhance the brand’s visibility and value.

Impact of Recent Tariff Policies

Recent tariff actions specially the U.S. “reciprocal tariffs” and related high tariffs on Japanese alcoholic beverage imports, are already constricting the expansion of umeshu in key export markets. For instance, as of mid-2025, Japan’s exports to the U.S. have fallen exports overall fell ~11% in June versus the same month last year, with big downward pressure due to tariffs on Japanese products. Brewers indicate that up to 40% of their export quantity is bound for the U.S., thus exposing them most to these developments.

With umeshu usually classified under alcoholic drinks, whenever import taxes increase, increased tariffs are boosting shop prices abroad and suppressing export growth—despite efforts by domestic brewers to keep pace with growing demand elsewhere. In countries such as North America, higher import charges are suppressing demand, particularly for high-end and mid-range umeshu brands. This can eventually encourage manufacturers to redirect distribution to less tariff-stricken markets (Asia, Europe), explore localized production or contract bottling, or reformulate products to minimize duty categories.

Report Scope

Regional Analysis

The Umeshu Market is segmented by key regions and includes detailed analysis across major countries. Below is a brief overview of the market dynamics in each country:

North America: North America led the global umeshu market in 2024, capturing the largest revenue share. With the increasing popularity of Japanese food and drinks through the region, the umeshu market in the region is steadily growing. Increased demand is driven by premium craft drinks and consumer awareness of foreign specialty flavors on the rise. The region is also helped by the growing numbers of Japanese restaurants and specialist liquor shops promoting authentic umeshu.

• US: The U.S. held the largest share in North America. This growth was driven by increased demand for a solid consumer base for imported spirits as well as well-established distribution channels. Growing demand for premium and craft beverages, combined with increasing e-commerce penetration, is increasing visibility for umeshu. Cocktail popularity with Japanese spirits is also assisting umeshu in becoming mainstream consumption.

• Canada: The Canada umeshu market is expanding, supported by the multicultural society and increased interest in Japanese food. Urban areas like Toronto and Vancouver, where Japanese culinary experiences are booming, are major drivers of demand. Specialty liquor shops and upscale bars are increasingly carrying umeshu, with younger consumers and bartenders playing with it in cocktails, driving its visibility in the premium drinks segment.

Europe: Europe is a massive land for umeshu to conquer, since it is home to a very sophisticated premium wine & spirits culture. More open-minded consumers willing to try Asian beverages and Japanese food and tourism’s popularity are all factors leading to higher demand. The area’s mature alcohol market is what makes it a good place for umeshu to be positioned at the premium and craft level.

• Germany: The demand for umeshu is experiencing a constant increase in Germany, where the trend towards a wider choice of foreign alcoholic beverages and the growth of Japanese restaurants are the main drivers.

• UK: The UK market is characterized by a consumer base driven by the advantages of its multicultural society and its willingness to accept niche premium beverages. The growing retail presence and cocktail culture are among the factors that contribute to umeshu gaining ground.

• France: France is gradually becoming more and more attracted to the idea of umeshu, mainly due to the already existing wine and aperitif culture. Umeshu is marketed as a new, one-of-a-kind, fruit-based alternative to traditional liqueurs, thus making it the first choice of consumers who like to experiment.

Asia-Pacific: Asia Pacific is the most developed and largest market for umeshu, as it identifies with the beverage’s traditional and cultural origins. Japan remains in charge of production and consumption, though expanding interest in neighboring nations is driving regional growth. Growing disposable incomes, expanding exposure to Japanese eating, and strong cultural affiliations are consolidating umeshu’s presence throughout the region.

• Japan: Japan is the primary market for umeshu, where it has a strong cultural background and is drunk as both an everyday and ceremonial drink. Flavor innovation, sustainable brewing, and premiumization are making it more appealing for the youth.

• China: China is an emerging market, backed by rising middle-class consumption of premium imported spirits and increasing popularity of Japanese food. Umeshu is becoming a staple in upscale restaurants and specialist liquor shops.

• India: The Indian market remains fledgling but is promising with increasing Japanese cultural awareness, urbanization, and demand for premium craft drinks. The hospitality and restaurant industry with its growing size will likely drive future demand.

LAMEA: The LAMEA market is a developing market for umeshu, with growth being driven by rising consumer interest in exotic and international drinks. Increased tourism, especially from Japan and Asia, and rising specialty bars and restaurants are generating opportunities for penetration.

• Brazil: Brazil dominates the Latin American umeshu market, driven by its vibrant cocktail scene, increasing premium spirits consumption, and expanding demand for fruit-infused alcoholic drinks.

• South Africa: South Africa maintains consistent interest in imported premium drinks, with umeshu being a niche product in high-end bars, restaurants, and specialty liquor stores.

Key Developments

The Umeshu Market has undergone a number of important developments over the last couple of years as participants in the industry look to expand their geographic footprint and enhance their product offering and profitability by leveraging synergies.

• In April 2024, SAKURAO Brewery and Distillery released a limited quantity of the “Sakurao Distillery Umeshu Whisky Cask Finish.” This particular edition was released on April 15, 2024, and is available in 600 ml bottles, with a suggested retail price noted on its product page.

• In September 2023, Choya Umeshu Company Limited, a key manufacturer of umeshu, launched a new umeshu beverage referred to as The CHOYA Ume Fruit Enriched at BCB Singapore. According to the news, the new product contains nearly 25% alcohol and utilizes ripe ume fruit and ume fruit puree for retaining the authentic taste of the fruit when blended with spirits. Formerly, the firm had introduced The CHOYA Craft Fruit and The CHOYA Ume Fruit Enriched is an extended version of the craft fruit beverage.

• In September 2023, Kankoubai Umeshu Sake launched at Systembolaget with the product becoming available on September 15th, 2023. The product, from Japan, is a sweet sake with a strong plum flavor and is sold as a 720 ml bottle at 12% alcohol volume.

• In May 2023, Kankoubaishuzo Co., Ltd., launched a new umeshu beverage referred to as Kankoubai Ume Sake. The new beverage is available at various retail stores in Japan. Furthermore, the Kankoubaishuzo Co., Ltd. is a key Japanese firm manufacturing umeshu.

These activities have allowed the companies to further develop their product portfolios and sharpen their competitive edge to capitalize on the available growth opportunities in the Umeshu Market.

Leading Players

The Umeshu Market is moderately consolidated, dominated by large-scale players with infrastructure and government support. Some of the key players in the market include:

• Choya Umeshu Co. Ltd.
• Takara Shuzo Co. Ltd.
• Suntory Holdings Limited
• Asahi Group Holdings Ltd.
• Ozeki Corporation
• Hakutsuru Sake Brewing Co. Ltd.
• Gekkeikan Sake Company Ltd.
• Kikkoman Corporation
• Umenoyado Brewery Co. Ltd.
• Nakano BC Co. Ltd.
• Heiwa Shuzou Co. Ltd.
• Sawanotsuru Co. Ltd.
• Kishu Umeshu Co. Ltd.
• Others

The Japanese umeshu market is moderately concentrated, with the presence of three major categories of players: traditional Japanese sake breweries, diversified beverage companies that have entered the liquor market, and independent regional producers. Among the market leaders are seven companies that have maintained stable and effective distribution networks, possessed highly valuable brands for decades, and have been continuously innovating in terms of flavor and product positioning: Choya Umeshu Co., Ltd., Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd., Suntory Holdings Limited, Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd., Ozeki Corporation, Hakutsuru Sake Brewing Co., Ltd., and Gekkeikan Sake Company, Ltd.

Alongside these companies, there are a few that start the movement for the new market actors, namely, Kikkoman Corporation, Umenoyado Brewery Co., Ltd., Nakano BC Co., Ltd., Heiwa Shuzou Co., Ltd., Sawanotsuru Co., Ltd., and Kishu Umeshu Co., Ltd. These companies offer not only high-quality products, but they also contribute to the market development by specializing in certain regions and innovating in the field of packaging and export. One of the most efficacious methods of the competition is authenticity, along with other ways such as integration into the global cocktail culture, sustainable brewing practices, and international market expansion.

The Umeshu Market is segmented as follows:

By End-User

• Residential
• Commercial

By Distribution Channel

• Convenience Stores
• On Premises
• Retailers
• Supermarkets

Regional Coverage:

North America

• U.S.
• Canada
• Mexico
• Rest of North America

Europe

• Germany
• France
• U.K.
• Russia
• Italy
• Spain
• Netherlands
• Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific

• China
• Japan
• India
• New Zealand
• Australia
• South Korea
• Taiwan
• Rest of Asia Pacific

The Middle East & Africa

• Saudi Arabia
• UAE
• Egypt
• Kuwait
• South Africa
• Rest of the Middle East & Africa

Latin America

• Brazil
• Argentina
• Rest of Latin America