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Calpis ((カルピス, Karupisu))/Milkis ((밀키스, Milkiseu)) is a Japanese uncarbonated
soft drink A soft drink (see § Terminology for other names) is a drink that usually contains water (often carbonated), a sweetener, and a natural and/or artificial flavoring. The sweetener may be a sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, a su ...
, manufactured by , a subsidiary of
Asahi Breweries is a Japanese global beer, spirits, soft drinks and food business group headquartered in Sumida, Tokyo. In 2019, the group had revenue of JPY 2.1 trillion. Asahi's business portfolio can be segmented as follows: alcoholic beverage business (4 ...
headquartered in
Shibuya Shibuya ( 渋谷 区 ''Shibuya-ku'') is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. As a major commercial and finance center, it houses two of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shinjuku Station (southern half) and Shibuya Station. As of April 1 ...
,
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
. The beverage has a light, somewhat
milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. Immune factors and immune ...
y, and slightly
acid In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...
ic flavour, similar to plain or vanilla flavoured
yogurt Yogurt (; , from tr, yoğurt, also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial Fermentation (food), fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as ''yogurt cultures''. Fermentation of sugars in t ...
or
Yakult is a Japanese sweetened probiotic milk beverage fermented with the bacteria strain '' Lacticaseibacillus casei'' Shirota. It is sold by Yakult Honsha, based in Tokyo. It is distributed through convenience stores and supermarkets in single-servin ...
. Its ingredients include
water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...
, nonfat dry milk and
lactic acid Lactic acid is an organic acid. It has a molecular formula . It is white in the solid state and it is miscible with water. When in the dissolved state, it forms a colorless solution. Production includes both artificial synthesis as well as natu ...
, and is produced by
lactic acid fermentation Lactic acid fermentation is a metabolic process by which glucose or other six-carbon sugars (also, disaccharides of six-carbon sugars, e.g. sucrose or lactose) are converted into cellular energy and the metabolite lactate, which is lactic acid ...
. The drink is sold as a concentrate which is mixed with water or sometimes milk just before consumption. A pre-diluted version known as , or its carbonated variety, known as , are also available. It is also used to flavour ''
kakigōri is a Japanese shaved ice dessert flavored with syrup and a sweetener, often condensed milk.新明解国語辞典(第6版)、三省堂 History The origins of ''kakigōri'' date back to the Heian period in Japanese history, when blocks of ic ...
'' (shaved ice) and as a mixer for cocktails and ''
chūhai , an abbreviation of " shōchū highball" (焼酎ハイボール), is an alcoholic drink originating from Japan. Traditional chūhai is made with barley shōchū and carbonated water flavored with lemon, but some modern commercial variants ...
''.


Name

Mishima's first two attempts, Daigomi and Daigoso, were named after the word . Inspiration was taken from the Sanskrit word ''
sarpir-maṇḍa Sarpir-maṇḍa (Sanskrit: ) was a type of dairy product, from five stages of milk described in Hinduism and Buddhist texts. As in Buddhist texts Buddhist texts including ''Nirvana Sutra'' describes five stages of milk as an analogy to stage ...
'' (
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
: ), which is regarded as the greatest of all flavours in Buddhism. He wanted to do the same for Calpis and initially named it ''Calpir'', constructing a
portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordscalcium Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to ...
'' and ''pir'' from ''sarpir-maṇḍa''. However, after consulting musician and Buddhist priest , Mishima chose ''pis'' from ''sarpiṣ'' (
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
: ) instead. Primarily in North America, the name ''Calpis'' is changed to ''Calpico'' with カルピス in katakana either below or on the reverse side of the packaging—this alteration to the name ensures that any unintended associations with the English
slang Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-gro ...
word for
urine Urine is a liquid by-product of metabolism in humans and in many other animals. Urine flows from the kidneys through the ureters to the urinary bladder. Urination results in urine being excretion, excreted from the body through the urethra. Cel ...
("piss") are avoided.


Packaging

The
polka dot Red polka dots on a yellow background Girl wearing polka dot dress Polish ceramics German ceramics Polka dot is a pattern consisting of an array of large filled circles of the same size. Polka dots are commonly seen on children's clothing, ...
packaging used to be white dots against a blue background until the colours were inverted in 1953. The design was intended to represent the
Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye ...
, in reference to the Japanese festival, ''
Tanabata , also known as the Star Festival ( 星祭り, ''Hoshimatsuri''), is a Japanese festival originating from the Chinese Qixi Festival. It celebrates the meeting of the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi (represented by the stars Vega and Altair res ...
'' on 7 July, a tradition seen as the start of the summer. In 1919, Calpis held an international poster exhibition in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The contest was held to provide aid to struggling European painters due to the inflation caused by World War I. After German painter Otto Dünkelsbühler won 3rd place, Calpis began using a logo a new logo in 1923. It featured an illustration of a black man with large lips and a
Panama hat A Panama hat, also known as an Ecuadorian hat, a jipijapa hat, or a toquilla straw hat, is a traditional brimmed straw hat of Ecuadorian origin. Traditionally, hats were made from the plaited leaves of the ''Carludovica palmata'' plant, known ...
drinking from a glass using a straw. As the logo came to be considered offensive, the black/white was first reversed, and then the logo was subsequently dropped altogether in January 1990. The complaint was initially filed by 12-year-old Futoshi Arita, a member of
The Association to Stop Racism Against Blacks The Association to Stop Racism Against Black People ( ja, 黒人差別をなくす会) was a private organization founded in Japan in 1988. Based in Sakai, Osaka, the association was noted for causing publishers around Japan to suspend printing ...
( ja, 黒人差別をなくす会).


History

The founder of Calpis, Kaiun Mishima, travelled to the Mongolian region of northern China (
Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
) in 1902, encountering a traditional cultured milk product known as airag (called kumis throughout most of Central Asia). The active ingredient in airag, responsible for its unique flavour, is lactic acid produced by lactobacilli bacteria. Mishima was inspired to develop his own version after the airag helped return his digestion to normal. His first attempt was Daigomi, launched in 1916. It was made by culturing cream with lactic acid bacteria. However, Daigomi was discontinued because of two major flaws: the amount of cream extracted from milk was inadequate for mass production, and there was a surplus of skim milk created as a by-product. Afterwards, Mishima created Daigoso by culturing skimmed milk with lactic acid bacteria. However, the product was also discontinued because of poor sales. His last unsuccessful attempt was Lacto Caramel, a product that contained live lactic acid bacteria. It was discontinued because the product melted during the summer. Mishima went back to further developing Daigoso and created Calpis by chance. One day, he decided to add sugar to Daigoso and left it overnight. After being satisfied with the taste, Calpis was officially released on July 7, 1919, at the price of ¥1.60 per bottle. Diluting Calpis with water proved to be economical, quickly garnering popularity with the people, along with the catchphrase "the taste of first love". For some time, Calpis had the image of being a special drink. Until the 1950s, it was often served to guests on special occasions or used as a gift. It was only around 1965 that it began to be treated as a normal beverage in ordinary households. Apart from the original flavour, orange-flavoured Calpis was released in 1958. Two years later, pineapple-flavoured and grape-flavoured Calpis were released. A carbonated version called Calpis Soda was also released in 1974. In 1973, sales plummeted after the price was raised. However, the prediluted version released in 1991 became a huge success. Within the first year of its release, 20.5 million cases of Calpis Water had been sold. It was also around this time that the company moved towards the use of paper and plastic containers. In 2009, marketers aimed to change the image of Calpis once more. They billed it as a healthy beverage in an attempt to shy away from the idea that Calpis was only for children. Following that change, Calpis shipments in the last 10 years have grown by 1.5 times the previous amount.


See also

*
Actimel Actimel (known as DanActive in the United States and Canada) is a probiotic yogurt-type drink produced by the French company Danone. Actimel earned over €1.4 billion (US$1.8 billion) in retail sales in 2006. History Actimel was invented in ...
*
Asahi Asahi (朝日, 旭, or あさひ) means "morning sun" in Japanese and may refer to: Cities * Asahi, Chiba (旭市; ''Asahi-shi'') Wards * Asahi-ku, Osaka (旭区; ''Asahi-ku'') * Asahi-ku, Yokohama (旭; ''Asahi-ku'') Towns * Asahi, Aichi (旭 ...
– wholly owning parent company of Calpis *
Fermented milk products Fermented milk products or fermented dairy products, also known as cultured dairy foods, cultured dairy products, or cultured milk products, are dairy foods that have been fermented with lactic acid bacteria such as ''Lactobacillus'', ''Lactococcu ...
*
List of fermented foods This is a list of fermented foods, which are foods produced or preserved by the action of microorganisms. In this context, fermentation typically refers to the fermentation of sugar to alcohol using yeast, but other fermentation processes involv ...
*
Milkis Milkis (Korean: 밀키스) is a Korean soft drink produced by Lotte Chilsung, a South Korean beverage company. It combines many of the common elements of traditional carbonated beverages such as sugar, and carbonated water with milk to create a ...
*
Pocari Sweat , Pokari Suetto is a Japanese sports drink, manufactured by Otsuka Pharmaceutical. It was launched in 1980, and is mostly well known across Asia and the Middle East; it is also available in East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia and Mexico. Poca ...
* Wahaha *
Yakult is a Japanese sweetened probiotic milk beverage fermented with the bacteria strain '' Lacticaseibacillus casei'' Shirota. It is sold by Yakult Honsha, based in Tokyo. It is distributed through convenience stores and supermarkets in single-servin ...


References


External links


Calpis official website

Calpis Official website
(Archive)
Asahi Group Company Listings
{{Authority control Asahi Breweries Drink companies of Japan Fermented drinks Japanese companies established in 1919 Japanese drinks Soft drinks Companies based in Tokyo