The Japanese people love the chocolatey malted drink Milo and they cannot lie.
A tweet on March 6 showing a new Milo kiosk opening in Machida station in Tokyo exploded with 50,000 retweets.
The tweet by @TonanLeopard showed a cup of original Nestlé Milo priced at JPY200 (S$2.48).
The kiosk also sells Milo drinks with added fruit, such as banana or kiwi mixed with pineapple -- which is very strange, but also very Japanese.
These cost JPY300 (S$3.72) per cup.
Dalgona coffee, on the other hand, which is sold for JPY180 (S$2.23) per cup at the same kiosk, is cheaper than Milo.
This underlines the premium that the Japanese have placed on Milo.
However, the Milo stall in Machida station will only be serving from March 6 to April 30.
Another shop, Nescafé Harajuku in Shibuya, will also be serving Milo for a limited period of time.
Japanese go Milo crazy
The Japanese are consuming Milo by the buckets, most likely due to pent-up demand.
The country has had zero supply of Milo since December 2020.
The low supply was due to the intense popularity of the drink almost overnight, which wiped out shelves.
Starting from July 2020, demand for Milo surged 700 per cent as a result of tweets promoting its health benefits.
Some on Twitter even claimed the drink helped them feel less fatigued, improve bladder health, and control hunger pangs, among other things.
By Dec. 10, 2020, Milo ran out of stock nationwide.
Milo powder even ended up on the black market, resold for few hundred times the price.
Nestlé Japan had to procure raw materials from Singapore in order to meet the demand with sales of the drink suspended until March 1.
For three months, the Japanese lived without Milo in their lives -- except for those who stashed some away.
Milo back
The Japanese can now get Milo at most places.
The 240g bags and five-stick sachets of Milo is now on sale in Japan.
The larger 700g bags are only available in some stores.
Anything bigger is not available.
All photos via