Japanese consumers face more price hikes this summer

May 30 (NHK) - A private survey has found that food and drink manufacturers in Japan have raised prices or plan to increase them for over 8,000 items due to higher raw material costs.

Credit research firm Teikoku Databank surveyed 105 major producers in the industry this month. It shows about 60 percent of the companies surveyed have already raised the prices of their products this year or plan to do so.

The increases affect 8,385 items. That is over 2,000 more than in a similar survey in April. The average scale of price hike is 12 percent.

Processed foods, such as cup noodles, ham and frozen food, are most widely affected. A total of 3,609 items are being marked up by an average of 13 percent due to higher wheat and cooking oil prices.

The survey found some companies have tried to survive with so-called "stealth price hikes". That is when they decrease the size of the product while keeping the same price.

But the research firm says some of those manufacturers now have no choice but to raise prices sharply. It warns that if raw material costs increase further, price hikes are likely to continue into the fall and beyond.

Source: ANNnewsCH

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