Several of Japan’s leading fishpaste product manufacturers raised prices beginning in February, and might have to do so again.
Japan’s top fishcake maker, Tokyo-based Kibun Foods, raised the prices of its fishpaste products and some side dish products by 8 percent across the board starting from 28 February. The company noted in its annual report that factors negatively affecting domestic profits were higher than expected, such as increases in raw material, transportation, packaging, and energy costs.
The country’s next-largest fishpaste product maker, Ichimasa Kamaboko based in Niigata City, and third-ranked maker Sugiyo Co., Ltd. based in Nanao City, Ishikawa Prefecture, both raised prices from 5 to 15 percent starting 1 March. The fourth-largest maker, Kanesada Co., Ltd. based in Miyoshi City, Aichi Prefecture, hiked prices 8 to 13 percent at the same time. And fifth-largest Fujimitsu, based in the city of Nagato in Yamaguchi Prefecture, took a slightly different tactic –
simply adding 100 yen (USD 0.76, EUR 0.71) to most prices, starting from April.
Signs are pointing to the companies needing to raise prices again. The price of surimi in April was over 26 percent higher than it was a year ago, amid lower Bering Sea Alaska pollock catch quotas, increased overseas demand, and a depreciating yen. Tokyo-based Nissui gives monthly market data on the trend of imported surimi based on Ministry of Finance statistics. It shows an average price of about JPY 194,000 (USD 1,485, EUR 1,386) per metric ton in April, as compared with around JPY 153,000 (USD 1,171, EUR 1,093) in the same month of 2021, and JPY 172,000 (USD 1,317, EUR 1,229) in November, when many of the earlier retail price hikes were announced.