TOKYO >> This fall, major convenience stores are focusing on smoothies and other frozen drinks, referring to them as “drinkable sweets.”

While soft drink and ice cream sales usually drop in the fall, smoothies, which allow customers to easily consume fruits and vegetables, have grown in popularity, prompting stores to expand their offerings.

In September, Lawson began selling smoothies, priced from $2.50 to $3.40, at five of its stores in the Tokyo area. Lawson employees prepare them in-house, slicing fruits, blending drinks and adding a whipped cream topping. The company plans to extend the drinks menu to 500 stores by fiscal 2025.

Last year, 7-Eleven Japan released Seven Cafe smoothies at some stores in Tokyo, Chiba prefecture and other areas. Customers purchase a plastic cup containing frozen fruits and vegetables, which are placed in a machine that mixes the ingredients into a smoothie. About 1,650 stores sell the drinks.

But the fall selections go beyond smoothies.

In September, FamilyMart added a frappe to its lineup featuring the popular Beniharuka sweet potato. It is mixed in a machine with milk, crushed ice and ice cream. In 2021, Ministop launched a line of Gurukuru drinks, which are a mixture of crushed ice, soft-serve ice cream, crushed fruit and other ingredients. This year the company added new flavors that include fresh fruit.

Japanese consumers visit convenience stores more frequently than department stores and shopping malls, and store sales are greatly affected by a shop’s ability to attract customers through seasonal products and events.

Convenience stores have also expanded their lineups of Christmas cakes and osechi meals, the assortment of traditional dishes sold during the New Year holidays, to compete with department stores and other retailers.