Nearly three quarters of restaurant operators in Japan plan to raise prices in the current fiscal year, passing on the rising cost of ingredients to customers, a Nikkei survey found.

The survey also found that 39% of restaurant operators believe sales will not recover to pre-pandemic levels. With consumers becoming more thrifty, the survey revealed concerns that restaurants that raise prices will lose customers.

The annual food business survey was conducted from early April to early June, and covered 554 major food service companies. Nikkei received responses from 302 companies.

Seventy percent of those who responded raised their prices from the previous year's survey, and 73% of respondents said they would do so in fiscal 2022.

In addition to foodstuffs such as cooking oil and wheat flour, electricity and other utility costs are also rising. The rapid depreciation of the yen is also driving up costs for food service companies.