Japan has run out of Milo, with sales suspended until March 2021

The popularity of the chocolatey malt beverage has skyrocketed lately, depleting all the stocks in Japan

Written by
Lim Chee Wah
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First, it was toilet paper. Earlier this year, as Covid-19 infections began to sweep across the globe, Japan, like several other countries in the world, suffered from #toiletpapergate. In an act that defied logic, people began buying and hoarding toilet paper, leaving supermarket shelves empty and unscrupulous opportunists charging exorbitant prices for the basic necessity through online resale sites.

Now, it’s Milo. For the uninitiated, Milo is a malt chocolate drink produced by Nestlé, and it is very, very popular in Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia and Singapore, as well as Australia and New Zealand. Recently, thanks to netizens on social media praising its purported health benefits, Milo has seen its popularity – and demand – in Japan going through the roof. So much so that stocks were depleted and Nestlé had to issue a statement saying that sales of Milo are suspended until at least March next year. Yes, really.

While Milo can be found in sizes as big as 1.5kg tins elsewhere, in Japan it’s only available in 700g and 240g bags as well as five-stick packs. But they are all gone now. According to Nestlé’s press statement, sales in Japan have grown by 700 percent. Nestlé is procuring raw materials from Singapore to ensure sufficient supply, with sales expected to resume in March next year.

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