Suntory Beverage & Food (Suntory), Japan's No. 2 vending machine operator, is seeking a breakthrough in its slumping vending machine business by rolling out custom goods vending machines targeting anime and idol fandoms. Suntory currently operates about 340,000 vending machines across Japan, with Coca-Cola at No. 1.
According to Nikkei Asia on the 21st local time, Suntory unveiled a "Tag-Live! card" vending machine at a recent exhibition in Tokyo that instantly turns images from concerts, sporting events, and anime and music-related events into acrylic cards.
The "Tag-Live! card" vending machine prints user-uploaded images on the spot in the form of acrylic cards. One card costs 1,500 yen (about 14,000 won). Because the product is made to order, there is no need to hold separate inventory and no delivery expense is incurred.
Nikkei Asia said Suntory focused on the characteristics of the fandom goods market, where demand is hard to predict. Products with short trend cycles, such as an idol's birthday or anime events, carry heavy inventory burdens, but on-site printing can reduce that risk, it noted.
Starting in Jul., the company will collaborate with the popular anime "BanG Dream!" to operate 14 machines at nine commercial facilities in Japan, including Sapporo and Fukuoka. It also plans to expand installations to 250 units by 2027.
Suntory has already confirmed business potential in the fandom consumer market. In 2019 it ran a cafe selling custom-label coffee, and customers tended to use the names of their favorite idols or anime characters instead of their own.
Since 2023, Suntory has launched a business-to-business (B2B) service that prints custom labels on beverage cans sold at events. It is currently collaborating with more than 200 pieces of content intellectual property (IP) annually through 5,000 vending machines nationwide.
A limited-edition beverage created in collaboration with the K-pop group Stray Kids sold 210,000 cans in two months. Suntory plans to expand related services to 10,000 machines and add a feature that plays a favorite star's voice at the push of a button.
Suntory is ramping up its push into the fandom market because Japan's traditional beverage-centered vending machine industry is on the decline. Japanese vending machines lack price competitiveness compared with convenience stores and big-box retailers, and sales have fallen as inflation has dampened consumption.
According to the beverage research firm Inryou Souken, the number of operating vending machines in Japan stood at 1.95 million as of 2025. That is about a 20% drop from 2013 and, for the first time since related statistics have been compiled, below 2 million.
There is also a shortage of workers to handle product restocking and cash collection. Japanese beverage company Pokka Sapporo is withdrawing from the vending machine business, and Daido Group Holdings is removing 20,000 machines. Annual sales per machine have also fallen to about 60% of the peak in 1996.