Japan’s top snack manufacturer is temporarily switching its normally vibrant packaging to black and white in response to a shortage of colored ink attributable to the war in Iran.
Tokyo-based Calbee announced Tuesday it will temporarily use only two ink colors on 14 of its products, including its chips, Kappa Ebisen snacks and the Frugra breakfast cereal, that are known for his or her distinctive multi-hued designs.
The printing ink used to provide colored packaging requires naphtha, an oil derivative, which Japan imports from the Middle East to satisfy about 40 per cent of its consumption.
Calbee snacks sold in Japan.
Edmond So/South China Morning Post via Getty Images
Products with the revised packaging will hit store shelves from May 25, the corporate said.
Calbee, which has the biggest share of Japan’s domestic snack market, said the move was aimed toward maintaining stable shipments amid supply disruptions affecting “certain raw materials” because of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
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Several Japanese firms have sought to attenuate spending and offset shortages by developing creative, cost-cutting solutions. Last month, the chip brand Yamayoshi Seika temporarily suspended production of a preferred snack because of difficulties in sourcing the heavy oil needed to run its factory.
Similarly, Japanese food-maker Mizkan halted sales of some products and raised prices on others because of shortages of polystyrene containers and rising costs of petrochemical products, the Japanese Times reported.
Asked about Calbee’s decision, a Japanese government spokesperson told Reuters that domestic naphtha refining continues using stockpiled crude oil, while imports from outside the Middle East have tripled in May compared with levels before the Iran war broke out in late February.
“Now we have not received any reports of immediate supply disruption for printing ink or naphtha and recognize that Japan as a complete has secured the quantities required,” Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kei Sato said.
“Relevant ministries are working together and making efforts to speak closely with impacted firms to know the situation,” he said, adding that a fact-finding hearing would happen on Tuesday.
Asian countries’ supply chains have been hit particularly hard by shipping disruptions because of the conflict, because the region relies heavily on the Middle East for oil and energy imports.
The impacts of the conflict have rippled across many industries, including industrial travel.
Jet fuel prices have skyrocketed, affecting flight schedules and prompting some airlines, including Air Canada, to suspend select routes, including Vancouver to Raleigh, Toronto to Sacramento, Toronto to Charleston, and Montreal to Austin.
Flights from Toronto and Montreal to Recent York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport were also suspended on April 17, with plans to resume on Oct. 25.
The war has also affected helium supplies, a gas widely utilized in the tech industry, in addition to fertilizer, paint, electronics, aluminum, and plastics, amongst others.
–with files from Reuters
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