Major Japanese snack maker Calbee began selling its Kappa Ebisen shrimp crackers in black-and-white packaging this week in Tokyo, a move in response to uncertainty over supplies of oil-derived naphtha stemming from the Middle East conflict.
At a supermarket on Monday, the monochrome Kappa Ebisen bags - stamped with the words "oil-saving package" - appeared on the shelves alongside snacks in colorful packaging.
An office worker who picked one up said the new packaging caught his eye and that he hoped to use it as a conversation starter with his children about social issues.
Calbee began rolling out monochrome packaging for 14 major items, including its mainstay potato chips and cereal lines, in late May.
Naphtha is commonly used as a raw material in the production of plastics and as a printing ink solvent. The effects of the naphtha supply crunch are rippling through the food industry in Japan, even as the government maintains that supplies remain sufficient.
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