Japan’s top snack manufacturer is temporarily switching its usually colourful packaging to black and white in response to a shortage of coloured ink caused by the war in Iran.
Tokyo-based Calbee announced Tuesday it would temporarily use only two ink colours on 14 of its products, including its chips, Kappa Ebisen snacks and the Frugra breakfast cereal, which are known for their distinctive multi-hued designs.
The printing ink used to produce coloured packaging requires naphtha, an oil derivative, which Japan imports from the Middle East to meet 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 company said.
Calbee, which has the largest share of Japan’s domestic snack market, said the move was aimed at maintaining stable shipments amid supply disruptions affecting “certain raw materials” due to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
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Several Japanese companies have sought to minimize spending and offset shortages by developing creative, cost-cutting solutions. Last month, the chip brand Yamayoshi Seika temporarily suspended production of a popular snack due to 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 due to 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.
“We have not received any reports of immediate supply disruption for printing ink or naphtha and recognize that Japan as a whole has secured the quantities required,” Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kei Sato said.
“Relevant ministries are working together and making efforts to communicate closely with impacted companies to grasp the situation,” he said, adding that a fact-finding hearing would take place on Tuesday.
Asian countries’ supply chains have been hit particularly hard by shipping disruptions due to the conflict, as the region relies heavily on the Middle East for oil and energy imports.
The impacts of the conflict have rippled across many industries, including commercial 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 New 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 used in the tech industry, as well as fertilizer, paint, electronics, aluminum, and plastics, among others.
–with files from Reuters
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