Recent research has shown that gut health plays a significant role in overall wellness. Amid the growing trend of gut-friendly food and beverages, the Meiji Group has taken a targeted approach by developing a personalized service tailored to each individual's gut type. After three years of research and development, Inner Garden was created.
We spoke with Tomohisa Haji, project manager at Meiji, and Dr. Nomaguchi of research partner Metagen, who supervised the development process. Their collaboration brought Inner Garden to life, combining Meiji's expertise with Metagen's deep knowledge of the gut microbiome.
Gut microbes are picky eaters
For decades, the gut health conversation centered around familiar territory: eat more yogurt, take probiotic supplements, add fermented foods to your diet. These recommendations weren't necessarily wrong, but they were incomplete.
"Each bacterial strain has its own preferred nutrient source and needs just the right amount to grow well," explains Dr. Nomaguchi. Nearly 1,000 distinct bacterial species inhabit the human gut, creating a microbial fingerprint as unique as the person carrying it. They don't all thrive on the same foods.
When these bacteria consume their preferred nutrients, they produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs)—powerful compounds that researchers now recognize as key players in human wellness. This sparked a question: what if we could identify the dominant players in your personal gut ecosystem and feed them exactly what they crave?
After three years of research and development, Inner Garden was born. Haji explains the meaning behind the name: "The gut contains densely packed microbes that resemble a flower garden. That's why the collective gut bacteria are sometimes referred to as the gut flora. We drew from this idea and chose the name Inner Garden to convey the concept of nourishing and cultivating the "garden" within each person's body."
The science of bacterial favorites
Inner Garden combines sophisticated gut flora test with everyday nutrition. The service is elegantly simple: submit a fecal sample, receive a personalized gut profile, then enjoy a daily cocoa drink tailored to your microbial makeup. Each person is matched with one of five cocoa blends, designed around the bacterial groups most common in healthy gut microbiota.
Haji outlined three development priorities that guided Inner Garden's development. First came evidence. While drawing on Meiji's decades of expertise in gut bacteria and food development technologies, the team partnered with Metagen to ensure every recommendation was grounded in solid research.
"Metagen emerged from university laboratories with a mission to understand the gut microbiome at the deepest level," Haji says. "They brought research capabilities we simply didn't have in-house and have been a powerful partner throughout the process."
Rather than attempting to support every bacterial strain in the gut, we focused on SCFAs. These fatty acids emerge when gut bacteria break down nutrients like soluble dietary fiber and oligosaccharides. They regulate the gut environment and influence immune function, inflammation, and metabolic health throughout the body.
Dr. Nomaguchi explains the approach: "For the gut to produce plenty of SCFAs, its bacteria need to be active and thriving. However, since each strain prefers different nutrients, it's far more effective to fuel the bacteria that are already abundant rather than focusing on the few that are less present. This insight drove Inner Garden's strategy: identify the dominant bacteria in each person's gut, then supply them with their preferred nutrients. It's a personalized recipe that maximizes impact while simplifying the complex world of gut microbiology."
Making complex science accessible
The second priority was clarity—how do you make cutting-edge science accessible without oversimplifying it? The team had to transform dense microbiological data into insights anyone could understand and act on.
The solution was Inner Garden's five-category system. Rather than overwhelming users with information about hundreds of bacterial species, the test focuses on five major genera known to produce SCFAs: Bacteroides, Ruminococcus, Faecalibacterium, Prevotella, and Bifidobacterium. For example, if your test result reveals Bacteroides as your dominant genus, you receive a beverage enriched with cyclodextrin—an oligosaccharide that Bacteroides particularly favors.
"The gut microbiome is incredibly complex, but complexity doesn't have to mean confusion," says Haji. "By focusing on these five major players, we make the science actionable. Users get clear results, testing stays affordable, and the barrier to entry remains low."
Inner Garden's testing kit and personalized cocoa beverage set
After the test, users receive comprehensive results showing the amount and balance of their five key bacterial genera, along with lifestyle recommendations tailored to their unique profile
Great tastes make healthy habits
The third development priority was taste. No matter how solid the science, the product had to be something people would genuinely look forward to consuming every day.
The team explored numerous forms and flavors before settling on cocoa-based beverages. Cocoa provided the perfect vehicle for incorporating diverse water-soluble fibers and oligosaccharides while maintaining consistent, appealing flavor across all five formulations. "Yogurt was our first instinct," recalls Haji. "But when we surveyed potential users, they wanted something special, something that felt uniquely theirs rather than another version of what they were already eating. The idea of their own personalized drink resonated much more strongly."
Five distinct cocoa formulations, each calibrated to support different bacterial groups
The versatility has proven remarkable. "Users enjoy it straight, mixed with milk, served over ice in summer, or warmed in winter. We consistently hear, 'I actually look forward to this part of my day,'" Haji notes. "Even people already committed to gut health—those eating fermented and high-fiber foods regularly—report that the cocoa drinks feel like a natural, enjoyable addition to their diet."
Leading the new era of personalized gut health
Inner Garden represents just the beginning of what's possible when rigorous science meets individualized care.
"Gut microbiome research evolves almost daily," Dr. Nomaguchi observes. "We're committed to evolving Inner Garden alongside these discoveries, ensuring users always benefit from the latest scientific insights."
"At Metagen, the vision extends beyond gut health to a future where healthcare is truly personalized," Dr. Nomaguchi explains. "That's why this collaboration with Meiji is so meaningful to us. We want to introduce as many people as possible to this new way of thinking about health: understand your microbial partners, then give them what they need to support you."
For Haji, Inner Garden supports individual wellness while also contributing to the growth of the gut health market. "The Meiji brand opens doors that might otherwise stay closed," he reflects. "It gives people confidence and trust, the reassurance they need to try something truly new in personalized nutrition."
