Consumers can expect to pay more for a total of 6,121 items between January and April Japan’s 195 major food and beverage manufacturers are set to increase prices for a…

Consumers can expect to pay more for a total of 6,121 items between January and April

Japan’s 195 major food and beverage manufacturers are set to increase prices for a record 1,380 products in January due to rising logistics and labour costs, according to Teikoku Databank Ltd. Bread products will be the primary focus of these price hikes.

According to Jiji Press, Yamazaki Baking Co. plans to raise prices on 290 items by an average of 5.6 per cent, which includes popular items like Royal Bread sliced bread and the “Usukawa Tsubuan” sweet red bean bun. Another major bread manufacturer, Pasco Shikishima Corp., intends to implement increases ranging from 1 per cent to 5 per cent for its flagship product, “Chojuku” sliced bread, as well as for 234 other items.

Teikoku Databank also reported that consumers can expect to pay more for a total of 6,121 items between January and April. In particular, frozen food and alcoholic beverage producers are quickly following the lead of bread manufacturers in implementing price increases.