Japan’s iconic Calbee potato chips will soon move to black-and-white packaging. Here’s why
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Japanese snack giant Calbee will temporarily switch to black-and-white packaging for some of its products in its native Japan, due to a shortage of naphtha.
PHOTO: CALBEE
- Calbee is switching to black-and-white packaging for 14 product variants from May 25 due to a severe naphtha shortage caused by the Iran war, affecting colour printing materials.
- Raw materials shortage due to the war in Iran has impacted many Japanese companies including Toyota, Toto, and Mizkan, leading to profit hits, product suspensions, price hikes, and even business closures.
- Japan's naphtha reserves are critical, leading to price hikes and product changes. The government is diversifying procurement.
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TOKYO – The vibrant, glossy packaging of Calbee potato chips on Japanese store shelves will soon fade into grayscale as the snack giant temporarily switches to black-and-white printing, becoming the latest Japanese business casualty of the war in Iran.
The stopgap measure will affect 14 product variants sold in Japan, including the signature lightly salted chips, kappa ebisen (prawn crackers) and Frugra cereal, Calbee said in a statement on May 12.
The monochrome-packaged products are slated to gradually hit store shelves across Japan from May 25, the company said, adding that it will “continue to respond flexibly and promptly to changes in its operating environment, including geopolitical risks”.
Calbee spokesman Kai Maraun stressed that while the look may be changing, the quality, contents and safety remain uncompromised.
“The temporary measure is intended to help maintain stable product supply amid ongoing constraints affecting certain packaging materials,” he told The Straits Times.
He said Calbee was unable to disclose any further information when asked by ST about the extent of these shortages of packing materials and the possibility of these black-and-white packaged products being rolled out to overseas markets as well.
The crisis stems from a severe deficit of naphtha in Japan. The petroleum byproduct is used in adhesives and plastics, and is essential for the resins and solvents used in industrial-scale colour printing.
The supply has been throttled by an effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz since late February after the United States and Israel waged war on Iran.
Calbee is merely one of many “walking wounded” in a Japanese corporate landscape suffering from the far-reaching economic tremors of the Iran war.
Other businesses affected by Iran war
Automakers, a pillar of Japan’s economy, have also been hard-hit, given their reliance on Middle East raw materials.
Toyota’s accounting group chief officer Takanori Azuma said on May 8 that the company expects a 670 billion yen (S$5.4 billion) hit on its operating profit due to higher material costs, delivery delays and lower sales volumes.
The impact of the war is being felt in everything from “fuel costs, transportation expenses and the cost of paint and other materials used at vehicle assembly plants”, he said during an earnings briefing.
Toiletmaker Toto, which is known for its high-tech washlets and bidets, said on April 13 that it has halted orders for its prefabricated modular bathroom units that are made using naphtha-derived plastics.
Foodmaker Mizkan, which produces natto (fermented soya bean) that is a daily staple in Japanese diets, on May 1 suspended sales of four products and raised prices by up to 20 per cent for others, due to a lack of the polystyrene containers they come in.
Dumpling chain Gyoza no Manshu has stopped selling frozen take-home gyozas due to difficulties in sourcing plastic trays used in their packaging.
Even the humble neighbourhood sento (public bathhouses), many of which use boilers that run on fuel oil, have been hit. Some decades-old businesses, such as Katsuragi Onsen in Aomori Prefecture, have chosen to shutter to cut their losses.
Japan has been dipping into its strategic oil reserves, although this supply is thinning. An initial stockpile that could meet 254 days of domestic demand – held by the state and private entities – has dwindled to 205 days as at May 8.
Impact of naphtha shortage
As for naphtha, Japan's reported buffer of only about three weeks has triggered industry-wide alarm.
A survey in late April by Seidanren, an industry association that represents consumer businesses such as food-and-beverage manufacturers and retailers, found that 72.5 per cent of its member companies would likely raise prices if naphtha supply concerns persist.
It further highlighted that 42.2 per cent might alter product specifications and 35.3 per cent might discontinue or suspend product lines entirely to weather the storm.
At a government meeting on April 30, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi acknowledged scarcity concerns as she said that Japan was diversifying naphtha procurement by tapping more non-Middle Eastern sources such as the United States, Algeria and Peru.
On May 12, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kei Sato told a regular news conference that before the war, 40 per cent of Japan’s naphtha supply was imported from the Middle East and 20 per cent from other regions, with the remainder refined domestically using crude oil.
He said that naphtha imports from regions outside the Middle East tripled in May from before, stressing that Japan was working to “stabilise and resolve any supply imbalances and bottlenecks”.
Still, Nomura Research Institute (NRI) executive economist Takahide Kiuchi believes the unfurling crisis will force more businesses to adapt, just as Calbee has done.
“Petroleum-derived detergents and shampoos may be substituted with entirely plant-derived ones,” he wrote in a commentary on NRI’s website. “Plastic products may be replaced with paper and wood products, such as paper bags replacing polyester bags.”
