SHIZUOKA - A shortage of naphtha-derived products is beginning to affect some of the best-known local products in Shizuoka Prefecture, threatening everything from peaches to tofu as producers struggle with rising costs and uncertain supplies.
Noboru Kawashima, 88, has spent four generations cultivating peaches in Suzukawa Town, Fuji City, where the fruit known locally as "Suzukawa Peaches" has long been cherished by residents.
The effects of tensions in the Middle East, however, have reached even this small farming community.
"What used to come in without any problem is becoming difficult to obtain," Kawashima said.
The product in question is cushioning material used during shipping. Because peaches bruise easily and can quickly deteriorate from even minor damage, protective packaging is essential. Kawashima said this is the first time he has experienced such shortages despite decades in the industry.
"It's a problem," he said. "We're making do by using larger materials and trying different things somehow."
The impact is also being felt at Kanazawa Tofu Shop, a business with more than 100 years of history in Fuji City that produces fresh firm tofu made from domestically grown soybeans.
Yukihiko Kanazawa said the plastic containers used to sell tofu have risen in price by 30% since May.
"We've been told the cost is going up by 30%," Kanazawa said. "We can't simply hand customers tofu in plastic bags when they take it home. These containers are absolutely necessary."
Although the shop currently has enough stock to cover about three and a half months of production, Kanazawa said uncertainty over supplies after autumn is making it difficult to decide whether tofu prices will need to be raised.
"There was a period in the past when soybean prices surged," he said. "When we increased tofu prices by 30 to 40 yen at that time, customers were shocked. To be honest, I don't know what we should do to maintain the current situation."
For producers determined to continue providing affordable, high-quality food, maintaining what once seemed like an ordinary part of daily life is becoming increasingly difficult. As costs rise and supplies become harder to secure, many are confronting an unsettling reality: they no longer know what the best path forward will be.
Source: SBSnews6
