Japan’s first yeast-based non-animal milk “LIKE MILK”　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Asahi Group Japan Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, President: Kenji Hamada) has developed Japan’s first non-animal milk made from yeast, “LIKE MILK,” utilizing Asahi Group’s proprietary yeast technology. It will be on sale from April 16th to June 15th on the support purchase service “Makuake.” It is scheduled to be released nationwide from 2026. We aim to realize a society of “food diversity” where everyone can freely enjoy food, regardless of constitution such as allergies, ideology such as ethical, or preferences such as non-animal or healthy.

Product Features

“LIKE MILK” is Japan’s first yeast-derived non-animal milk. It does not contain any specific allergenic ingredients (28 items) and is characterized by a slight natural sweetness and a mellow taste without any peculiar taste. Compared to cow’s milk and soy milk, it is rich in dietary fiber and zinc, and contains the same amount of protein and calcium as cow’s milk, while having 38% less fat than cow’s milk ^* . In addition to drinking it as is, it can be used in various situations in daily life, such as cooking, baking, and mixing it into coffee and tea, just like cow’s milk.
*Regular cow’s milk and soy milk (from the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan (8th Edition) Supplementary 2023)

Development Background

In July 2023, a program for new value creation initiatives across the Asahi Group was launched, and a team consisting of three companies was formed: Asahi Group Japan, which oversees the company’s Japanese business; Asahi Group Foods, which operates the food business in Japan; and Asahi Quality & Innovations, which is responsible for the Asahi Group’s basic research. As the team considered social issues in the world, they focused on “food allergies” and started by interviewing people who actually suffer from “food allergies.”
In interviews with families with children who have food allergies to milk and eggs, they found that they live with many restrictions. In addition, the number of people with food allergies is increasing year by year ^. Therefore, we began developing this product with the aim of creating a society where everyone can enjoy food freely. In conjunction with the development, we focused on “yeast,” which the Asahi Group has been researching for many years, and established technology to improve the emulsifying power of yeast ingredients and technology to remove the unique flavor of yeast, resulting in the creation of “LIKE MILK,” which does not contain any allergy-specific raw materials (28 items) but has a mellow taste without any peculiar taste.
* “Report on the Survey on Food Labeling Related to Food Allergies in FY2021” Consumer Affairs Agency

Source:Asahi group Japan 16th April 2025.