SINGAPORE – Orange may have been the least popular Yakult flavour here, but it certainly has its loyal fans.
When The Straits Times broke the news on June 10 that Yakult Singapore was replacing the orange flavour with a new-to-market peach version in July 2026, most of those who spoke to ST said they would miss it.
Teacher Brenda Chew, who declined to share her age, made a trip down to NTUC FairPrice at Bishan specially to buy the orange Yakult.
“I read that they are going to stop selling the orange Yakult and thought that I’d better come down to buy some to drink,” she said.
“I actually like grape and apple more, but to stop orange is quite sad. It’s a childhood thing.”
A few orange Yakult purists said they would drink less Yakult or stop drinking it altogether once their go-to flavour is gone.
Music teacher Christine Heng, 43, usually buys the orange-flavoured Yakult pack once or twice a month for her family.
“I grew up thinking (orange) was always the favourite flavour, until I learnt that that’s grape,” she mused. “I will certainly be buying much less when my favourite flavour is no more.”
Marketing executive Sarah Elliot, 38, said she has “loved that flavour my whole life”.
She sees herself buying about two mixed-flavour packs a month instead of five once the orange flavour is discontinued.
For social worker Zhi Pheng, 30, Yakult’s impending move is a deal-breaker.
“The orange flavour is the only one I like,” said the self-described loyalist who drinks a bottle a day, adding that he will stop drinking Yakult altogether once the flavour is gone.
Yakult promoter Li Yixia, who was working at the Fairprice outlet at Bishan, said: “The news was quite sudden, I was only informed of this today when I clocked in. I was quite shocked.”
The family pack in the original flavour is the most popular, she said, followed by the single pack in grape.
“On average, we sell two cases of grape-flavoured Yakult in a day. But for orange-flavoured Yakults, we can only sell 10 packs,” said Li. Each case has 16 five-bottle packs.
Yakult Singapore said apple is the third-most popular flavour here.
For others, saying goodbye to the orange flavour brought back a sense of nostalgia and their childhood years growing up with the drink, even though they professed to prefer the other flavours such as grape and apple.
Project manager Nurul Iynshyrah said she was “so sad” about the change.
“Orange is such a staple in the five-pack. I’m sad because it’s a childhood favourite. In a five-pack, there’s always one flavour that stands out to you more – orange was that girl,” said the 24-year-old.
“I lean more towards the original flavour. As long as they don’t change that, I will still buy Yakult.”
University student Sherwin Tng said he was not sad about losing orange as a flavour as he has “been a loyal green apple fan since primary school”. His other favourite Yakult flavour is grape.
Tng said he grew up drinking it and remembers fondly how his mother would buy it “from the Yakult auntie going door to door at our HDB”.
“One thing I like about Yakult is because they package it very colourfully. It’s like having a collection of drinks instead of only one flavour,” said the 23-year-old.
“I never thought of having a peach Yakult flavour before, but I’ll ‘peach’ it (pitch it) to my friends,” he quipped.
Mr Enzo Chen, who works in the food and beverage sector as a head of operations, had a vehement view on the outgoing orange drink.
“From the very first sip, the flavour reminded me of vomit,” the 24-year-old said.
Production of Orange Yakult will cease at the end of June, after which it will be sold while stocks last.
Its replacement with peach marks the first time Yakult is refreshing its flavour line-up in Singapore since 1980, when the fat- and gluten-free beverage was launched in orange, grape and apple flavours.
Yakult Singapore’s managing director Masaaki Sunami said the company had received many requests from customers to bring other Yakult flavours to Singapore, especially the peach flavour.
