Intage recently released its “2025 Best-Selling Items Ranking,” in which many food and beverage products ranked near the top, led by rice in first place, along with instant coffee in third, toy maker confectionery in fourth, and cocoa in seventh. Products boosted by inbound demand also stood out, including calcium supplements in second, lip balm in eighth, and hand and skin care in ninth.
The company compiled growth in estimated sales value based on “SRI+,” its retail sales data collected from about 6,000 stores nationwide.
In 2025, rice ranked a runaway first at 162 percent, making the result symbolic of recent price inflation. Reflecting the trend of price hikes, instant coffee and regular coffee also posted double-digit growth in value, even though unit sales fell below the previous year. Toy maker confectionery expanded to nearly three times its pre-pandemic market size, showing a synergistic effect with popular anime, manga, and other IP content.
A few years ago, hygiene products and test kits stood out in the top rankings due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but in recent years rice and other items affected by rising prices have gained a stronger presence.
The top categories in 2025 and their growth rates were as follows: (1) rice (162 percent year-on-year), (2) calcium supplements (123 percent), (3) instant coffee (119 percent), (4) toy maker confectionery (118 percent), (5) regular coffee (117 percent), (6) face powder (116 percent), (7) cocoa (115 percent), (8) lip balm (114 percent), (9) hand and skin care (114 percent), and (10) tomato juice (113 percent).
