Canned Coffee Popular at 1970 Osaka Expo Returns; Revival Edition Hoped to Bring Back Drink’s Popular Appeal

The Yomiuri Shimbun

20:00 JST, April 7, 2025

UCC Ueshima Coffee Co. in Kobe released on Monday a revived version of the company’s canned coffee from 1969, which became hugely popular in the following year thanks to the 1970 Osaka Expo.

The 250-gram cans of UCC coffee with milk are available only in limited quantities.

UCC Ueshima Coffee used the canned coffee’s recipe, which had been kept at the company, and re-created not only the strong sweetness but also the package design from those days. The canned coffee is priced at ¥125 with tax and sold at convenience stores and mass-market retailers across the country. The price was ¥70 in 1969.

When UCC canned coffee was sold on the site of the Osaka Expo in 1970, it created buzz as a new way of enjoying coffee. The sales quantity of the product in fiscal 1970 is said to have skyrocketed by 300 times compared to the previous fiscal year.

The most recent version of the regular product, UCC Milk Coffee, is the 10th edition of the series.

In recent years, the market for canned coffee has been shrinking, losing ground partly due to the popularity of freshly brewed coffee sold at convenience stores.

“We hope the Osaka-Kansai Expo will become a good opportunity for people to gain new interest in canned coffee,” said a UCC statement.