Economy

Price hikes to affect more than 20,000 food products in 2022

Reuters / Issei Kato
An employee of Ezaki Glico works on a Pocky production line at the company’s Kitamoto factory in Kitamoto, north of Tokyo October 16, 2014.

Jiji Press

11:29 JST, September 2, 2022

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — More than 20,000 food products face price hikes this year, the latest tally by credit research company Teikoku Databank Ltd. has shown.

The prices of nearly 10,000 items are expected to be raised over the three months from September in an unusually big wave of price hikes. Amid prolonged surges in materials costs, price markups may continue next year.

The prices of 2,424 items are set to go up this month.

Megmilk Snow Brand Co.’s Neosoft margarine is expected to cost around ¥389 for a 300-gram pack, up by about ¥43. The price of Hagoromo Foods Corp.’s Sea Chicken L Flake canned tuna will rise by ¥11 to ¥216 per 70-gram can.

Price hikes are also impacting snacks such as Calbee Inc.’s light salt-flavored potato chips, which are set to cost around ¥155 for a 60-gram bag, up roughly ¥15.

The price of Ezaki Glico Co.’s Pocky chocolate snacks will go up by ¥9 to ¥171, while that of Imuraya Co.’s popular Azuki Bar sweet bean ice cream will be revised to ¥86 per stick, rising by ¥11.

Price rises are seen accelerating in October, affecting 6,532 products, the highest monthly total this year.

To combat the spike in food prices, the government plans to keep the prices of imported wheat it sells to Japanese flour mills fixed from October onward.

The measure, aimed at curbing price increases for bread and noodles, may help slow the momentum of food price rises for now. Many companies, especially small food makers and delivery businesses, are feeling pressure to absorb rises in costs and are finding it difficult to pass on the burden through price hikes.