Which snacks & sweets brands do AI assistants recommend in Japan? Q4 2026
In Japan, AI assistants most often recommend Meiji, Lotte and Morinaga for snacks & sweets. Meiji is named by 4 of 4 assistants.
What the data says
Meiji is the snacks & sweets brand AI assistants recommend most in Japan, taking 18.6% of all recommendation points across 4 assistants. Lotte follows with 11.4% and Morinaga is third with 10.8%.
Meiji's lead over Lotte is 7.2 points, a clear advantage in how AI shortlists the category.
Grok puts Meiji first, while ChatGPT favours Lotte, DeepSeek favours Morinaga and Gemini favours Morinaga.
The top five brands hold 54% of recommendations out of 35 brands named in total, leaving room for challengers to break into AI shortlists.
| # | Brand | Owner | AI share | ChatGPT | DeepSeek | Gemini | Grok |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Meiji | Meiji | 18.6% | 82 | 85 | 67 | 137 |
| 2 | Lotte | Lotte | 11.4% | 93 | 28 | 33 | 75 |
| 3 | Morinaga | Morinaga | 10.8% | – | 95 | 70 | 52 |
| 4 | Calbee | Calbee | 8.6% | 35 | 35 | 35 | 67 |
| 5 | Koikeya | Koikeya | 5% | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 |
| 6 | Glico | Ezaki Glico | 4.5% | 57 | – | 20 | 12 |
| 7 | Bourbon | Bourbon | 4.2% | 20 | 20 | 35 | 8 |
| 8 | Pringles | Kellanova | 3.9% | 12 | 12 | 8 | 45 |
| 9 | Oreo | Mondelez | 3.4% | 8 | 12 | – | 47 |
| 10 | Kanro | Kanro | 3.1% | – | 20 | 35 | 8 |
| 11 | Lay's | PepsiCo | 2.8% | – | 20 | – | 35 |
| 12 | Mentos | Perfetti Van Melle | 2.5% | 8 | 8 | – | 35 |
| 13 | Haribo | Haribo | 2.5% | – | 12 | – | 37 |
| 14 | Ferrero Rocher | Ferrero | 2.1% | – | 8 | – | 35 |
| 15 | KitKat | Nestlé | 1.8% | 12 | – | 12 | 12 |
| 16 | Ritz | Mondelēz | 1.2% | – | – | – | 25 |
| 17 | Lindt | Lindt & Sprüngli | 1.2% | – | – | – | 25 |
| 18 | Yamazaki | Suntory | 1% | 20 | – | – | – |
| 19 | UHA | UHA Mikakuto | 1% | 20 | – | – | – |
| 20 | Yamayoshi | Yamayoshi | 1% | – | – | 20 | – |
Questions about AI snacks & sweets recommendations
- Which snacks & sweets brand does ChatGPT recommend most in Japan?
- ChatGPT recommends Lotte most often for snacks & sweets in Japan. Across all assistants, Meiji leads with 18.6% of recommendations.
- Which snacks & sweets brand is improving fastest in Japan?
- Calbee has the strongest momentum among challengers: AI names it first in 4 of 6 answers where it appears, while holding 8.6% 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.
Snacks & Sweets: AI rankings by country
Covers: Biscuits & Cookies, Candy & Confectionery, Chips & Crisps, Chocolate.
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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