Which infant formula brands do AI assistants recommend in Japan? Q4 2026
In Japan, AI assistants most often recommend Meiji, Morinaga and Wakodo for infant & toddler formula. Meiji is named by 4 of 5 assistants.
What the data says
Meiji is the infant formula brand AI assistants recommend most in Japan, taking 23.5% of all recommendation points across 5 assistants. Morinaga follows with 22% and Wakodo is third with 17%.
The top spot is close: only 1.5 points separate Meiji and Morinaga, so a small change in how either brand is described online could flip the order.
ChatGPT, DeepSeek and Grok put Meiji first, while Claude favours Morinaga and Gemini favours Wakodo.
The top five brands hold 71% of recommendations out of 19 brands named in total, leaving room for challengers to break into AI shortlists.
| # | Brand | Owner | AI share | ChatGPT | Claude | DeepSeek | Gemini | Grok |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meiji | Meiji | 23.5% | 70 | 25 | 70 | – | 70 |
| 2 | Morinaga | Morinaga | 22% | 50 | 70 | 50 | – | 50 |
| 3 | Wakodo | Asahi Group | 17% | 40 | – | 40 | 50 | 40 |
| 4 | Snow Brand | Megmilk Snow Brand | 4.8% | 24 | – | – | – | 24 |
| 5 | Icreo | Ezaki Glico | 4% | 16 | – | 16 | 8 | – |
| 6 | Snowbaby | Generic | 4% | – | 40 | – | – | – |
| 7 | Hohoemi | Meiji | 3.5% | – | – | – | 35 | – |
| 8 | Meiji Step | Meiji | 3.5% | – | – | – | 35 | – |
| 9 | Meiji Step 2 | Meiji | 2.5% | – | 25 | – | – | – |
| 10 | Enfamil | Reckitt | 2.4% | – | 8 | – | – | 16 |
| 11 | Bean Stalk | Megmilk Snow Brand | 2.4% | – | – | 24 | – | – |
| 12 | Hagukumi | Morinaga Milk | 2% | – | – | – | 20 | – |
| 13 | Chil Mil | Morinaga Milk | 2% | – | – | – | 20 | – |
| 14 | Bean Stalk Sukoyaka | Megmilk Snow Brand | 1.2% | – | – | – | 12 | – |
| 15 | Bean Stalk Tsuyoiko | Megmilk Snow Brand | 1.2% | – | – | – | 12 | – |
| 16 | Aptamil | Danone | 1.2% | – | 12 | – | – | – |
| 17 | Aptamil Step 3 | Danone | 1.2% | – | 12 | – | – | – |
| 18 | Icreo Balance | Ezaki Glico | 0.8% | – | – | – | 8 | – |
| 19 | Enfamil Toddler | Reckitt | 0.8% | – | 8 | – | – | – |
Questions about AI infant formula recommendations
- Which infant formula brand does ChatGPT recommend most in Japan?
- ChatGPT recommends Meiji most often for infant formula in Japan. Across all assistants, Meiji leads with 23.5% of recommendations.
- Which infant formula brand is improving fastest in Japan?
- Hohoemi has the strongest momentum among challengers: AI names it first in 1 of 1 answers where it appears, while holding 3.5% share. This is the first Q4 2026 reading; change over time will be shown from the next update.
- How is the ranking calculated?
- We ask each AI assistant the questions shoppers ask in each category and market, record the top five brands it names, and give 35, 25, 20, 12 and 8 points for positions one to five. Share is a brand's points divided by all points awarded.
Infant & Toddler Formula: AI rankings by country
Covers: Infant Formula, Toddler Formula.
Method: each AI assistant is asked the shopper questions for every segment in the category and market; the top five brands named score 35, 25, 20, 12 and 8 points. Share is a brand's points divided by all points awarded. Rankings reflect AI answers, not sales.
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