Japan’s biggest snack maker has been forced to use black-and-white packaging for some flagship products because of ink ingredient shortages caused by the strait of Hormuz blockade.
Calbee, whose potato chip brands in particular are known for brightly coloured bag designs, said 14 of its products would switch to monochrome branding by the end of May.
The move to black and white was forced on Calbee by disrupted supplies of naphtha,naphtha an ink ingredient derived from petroleum. Calbee said it was reacting to an unstable supply of “certain raw materials” due to the war.
Japanese companies have lately sought to minimise the impact of rising costs and material shortages even as the government seeks to reassure the public and businesses over supplies. Printing ink requires naphtha, an oil derivative for which Japan relies on imports from the Middle East for about 40% of its consumption.
News of the company’s move made headlines across Japan. It followed a brief panic in March among fans of a different crisps brand that temporarily stopped producing a popular snack citing difficulties in procuring the heavy oil needed to run its factory.
Asked about Calbee’s decision, a government spokesperson said domestic naphtha refining continued with the use of stockpiled crude oil, while imports from outside the Middle East have tripled in May compared with levels from before the Iran war broke out in late February.
Kei Sato, a senior government spokesperson, assured the public that naphtha shortages would not cause wider disruption.
“Adequate supplies of the naphtha ink ingredient have been secured for important functions in Japan. We are working with major corporations to ensure naphtha is imported by routes other than through the strait of Hormuz,” Sato said in remarks broadcast as an emergency bulletin by some television networks.
“We have not received any reports of immediate supply disruption for printing ink or naphtha and recognise that Japan as a whole has secured the quantities required.”
Calbee was founded in Hiroshima in 1949 as the city was still recovering from the atomic bombing, and has grown into a snack giant with its products sold across Asia, Europe and the US. The company acquired the UK’s Seabrook Crisps in 2018. It recorded sales of 322.5bn yen ($2.04bn) in 2025.
The company’s shares dipped more than 1% on the news, while the Nikkei 225 Index was up overall.
The Guardian has contacted Calbee for comment.
With Reuters
