Otsuka Calorie Mate: Best Japanese Energy Bar
Otsuka Pharmaceutical is a Japanese healthcare company that makes Japan’s best and most-loved energy drink and bar, Oronamin C (オロナミンC) and Calorie Mate (カロリーメイト).
The maker introduced the former beverage in 1965, while the latter Calorie Mate debuted in 1983, and now, it’s become Japan’s top brand of nutritional energy bar.
Calorie Mate Block (カロリーメイトブロック)
Today, Otsuka Calorie Mate also comes in liquid and jelly forms, and the original block type currently has five flavors.
Flavors
- Cheese (チーズ) with black Calorie Mate logos, released in April 1983
- Fruit (フルーツ) (green), released in April 1984
- Chocolate (チョコレート) (red), released in October 1993
- Maple (メープル) (pink), released in September 2009
- Vanilla (バニラ) (blue), released in March 2022
My all-time favorites are these Cheese and Fruit flavors, which I think almost everyone can like.
Based on Japanese Wikipedia, discontinued flavors are Vegetable (ベジタブル) (2000-2007), Potato (ポテト) (2007-2014), and Plain (プレーン) (2014-2022).
Features
The Calorie Mate block is a cookie-like food with five essential nutrients. It consists of a good combination of protein, fat, sugars, 11 vitamins, and six minerals.
The bar is ideal for those always on the go, providing a balanced energy source needed for daily activities.
Above all, these Cheese and Fruit-flavored blocks are easy to eat, and you won’t get tired of eating them because of the delicious taste.
Nutritional Values
The calories per piece (20 grams) are just 100 kcal, and the Calorie Mate bars contain about half the vitamins you need in a day.
For your information, below are specific nutritional values of the Cheese flavor.
| Calories | 400 kcal |
| Protein | 8.4 g |
| Fat | 22.2 g |
| Carbohydrates | 42.7 g |
| -Sugars | 40.7 g |
| -Dietary fibers | 2 g |
| Salt equivalents | 0.94 g |
| Calcium | 200 mg |
| Iron | 2 mg |
| Magnesium | 50 mg |
| Phosphorus | 100 mg |
| Vitamin A | 385 μg |
| Vitamin B1 | 0.6 mg |
| Vitamin B2 | 0.7 mg |
| Vitamin B6 | 0.65 mg |
| Vitamin B12 | 1.2 μg |
| Niacin | 6.5 mg |
| Pantothenic acid | 2.4 mg |
| Folic acid | 120 μg |
| Vitamin C | 50 mg |
| Vitamin D | 2.8 μg |
| Vitamin E | 3.2 mg |
Ingredients
The Otsuka Calorie Mate block is classified as Kashi (菓子: meaning snack), labeled as a dietary supplement.
The ingredients used in the Cheese flavor are as follows.
| Wheat flour, Margarine, Sugar, Natural cheese, Egg, Almond powder, Starch, Skim milk powder, Soybean protein, Wheat protein, Salt, Casein sodium, Modified starch, Flavoring, Carotenoid pigment |
Price
The manufacturer’s suggested retail price of the two packs version with 4 bars is 200 yen (about 1.6 USD) (excluding tax).
