An image explaining that the packaging of “Potato Chips,” the flagship product of Japanese snack maker Calbee, is being changed to black and white. Captured from X (formerly Twitter)
The shelves of Japanese supermarkets are changing amid fallout from worsening conditions in the Middle East. Japanese companies are scrambling to address naphtha supply shortages, switching packaging prints to black-and-white and replacing plastic food containers and lids with wrap or paper.
According to the Nikkei on Friday, general retailer Ito-Yokado will replace plastic lids on meat and sashimi products with wrap from late this month and make containers colorless to reduce ink usage. The way fried foods are sold at the prepared-foods corner will also change. Until now, items were sold in packs of five in plastic containers, but consumers will instead be able to choose how many they want, with the items placed in heat-resistant paper packaging.
Convenience store chain Lawson is switching the plastic lids on takeout coffee cups served at its stores to paper. Lawson also plans to make the containers of its private-label PET-bottle water and beverage products thinner to reduce overall plastic usage.
Seven-Eleven has developed products with the recycled plastic content in containers for items such as prepared foods raised to 100%, and will begin pilot sales at some stores from next month. It will also switch brand logos on sandwich and other packaging to black-and-white. Snack maker Calbee plans to ship its flagship “Potato Chips” with packaging printed in black-and-white. The change will be applied sequentially to 14 products including low-salt, consommé and seaweed flavors, starting with shipments on the 25th.
The naphtha shortage is also driving up prices of daily necessities. Japanese household goods maker Kao is in talks with retail clients about raising prices of sanitary napkins and paper diapers from September. Kao has also decided to raise prices of laundry detergents and skincare products from July.
A meat counter inside a store of Japanese supermarket chain Ito-Yokado. Captured from Ito-Yokado’s Facebook
Daio Paper announced it will raise prices of all household and commercial products, including paper diapers and sanitary items, by more than 15% from August deliveries. Unicharm will also raise prices of paper diapers and sanitary products from July.
With food prices showing signs of increases as well, distribution and food companies including United Super Markets Holdings are considering scaling back special discount sales on cooking oil, snacks and other items affected by packaging material procurement difficulties.
The Nikkei reported, “The impact of the worsening Middle East situation is expected to continue for some time, bringing changes not only to the distribution and food industries but across industries as a whole, including construction, where building material procurement is unstable,” adding, “Companies are also making various efforts, such as reducing packaging materials, to preemptively respond to this situation.”
Naphtha, often called “the rice of industry,” is a core raw material for petrochemical products and is used to make many items in daily life, including plastics, fabrics, synthetic rubber, ink, adhesives, cleaning agents and cosmetics.