#Demon Slayer Canned Coffee Keeps Japanese Drink Company Afloat During 2020

Demon Slayer canned coffee (photo: Daryl Harding)

Japanese beverage company Dydo DrinCo has posted its annual financial results today and citing the company’s collaboration with Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba in October as one of the reasons why its domestic beverage didn’t fall in 2020 as COVID-19 ravaged the industry–in fact, it increased by 80.1% compared to 2019.

Dydo DrinCo discussed in their report that because people were staying home and working from home for most of the year, sales of drinks in vending machines and convenience stores decreased 6% compared to 2019. Despite this, due to Demon Slayer selling 50 million cans of coffee in October–150% more than the previous year–Dydo was able to weather a the industry-wide dip over the 2020 financial year.

While sales did dip, NHK reports that the production of canned coffee is inexpensive and easy, leaving it easy to make a profit off of.

Demon Slayer vending machine (photo: Daryl Harding)

The president of Dydo Group Holdings said as a leading point under the domestic beverage segment in the report that “[the company] posted strong sales of products developed collaboratively with the hugely popular TV anime Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba), which were launched in October, in both the vending machine and distribution channels, and we expect to see growth in the customer base for canned coffee products.”

In a year that saw over 1,000 companies close in Japan due to the pandemic, it’s always nice to see a company increase their bottom-line on the back of an anime franchise (namely one that is so popular, it overtook Spirited Away as the highest-grossing film in Japan). Let’s hope the trend continues as Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba continues into its second season.

Source: DyDo Financial Highlights for Year Ending 2020 via NHK

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Daryl Harding is a Japan Correspondent for Crunchyroll News. He also runs a YouTube channel about Japan stuff called TheDoctorDazza, tweets at @DoctorDazza, and posts photos of his travels on Instagram.