Calbee Inc., Japan’s answer to Frito-Lay with an enormous product line-up ranging from pizza-flavored potato chips to low-carb granola, is raising prices again as companies struggle to absorb costs that are climbing at the fastest clip in years.
As Lily Nonomiya reports for Bloomberg News, the Tokyo-based company said in a statement Wednesday it will raise the prices of snacks and cereals in Japan by 5% to 20% from September because of increasing material costs. Its shares advanced as much as 5.1% in Tokyo after the announcement, their biggest intraday gain in more than a month. Smaller rival Koike-ya Inc. also announced price increases this month.
“A sharp increase in raw material prices have had a serious influence on Calbee’s products. Calbee has made the utmost efforts to absorb rising costs while maintaining product quality, but has found it difficult to keep product prices where they are,” Calbee says in a press release.
Source: Bloomberg News. Full report here
Source: Calbee Inc: Press release here
Photo: Nikkei Asia
