Calbee Inc. said it will change how some of its snacks look on store shelves in Japan, switching certain products’ packaging to black-and-white as the war in Iran disrupts supply chains for ingredients used in colored ink. The Tokyo-based company said in a statement that what is inside its snacks would remain the same.
The packaging change will apply to 14 products in Calbee’s lineup, with the new look beginning May 25. In describing the decision, Calbee framed it as a step to help keep product supply steady amid “changing geopolitical conditions,” while limiting ink colors rather than altering the snacks themselves.
Calbee said the change would start May 25 and would limit ink colors to just two. The company said it did not know how long the packaging adjustment would last, adding that the need for flexibility reflected conditions it said were shifting because of the Iran war.
“This measure is intended to help maintain a stable supply of products,” Calbee said in a statement this week, according to the report by Yuri Kageyama of the Associated Press. Calbee also said it was responding to geopolitical risks while continuing to supply what it described as safe, high-quality products.
In the report, Calbee’s lightly salted chips, known as “usu shio,” are described as having come in a bright-orange bag with an image of yellow chips and a potato-man mascot wearing a hat. The new packaging, the report said, uses monochrome lettering instead.
The company, which also makes shrimp chips known as “kappa ebisen,” has been navigating the broader impact of disruptions tied to the Iran war, including shortages and spiking prices for energy and other inputs, the report said. It cited the closure of the Strait of Hormuz as part of the wider chain of disruption affecting shipping and oil-related supplies.
Japan, which the report said relies almost entirely on imports for its oil, has so far handled worries about energy relatively calmly in part by pointing to its oil reserves. Still, the report said Japan is facing a squeeze on naphtha, an oil-derived product used in items such as plastics and ink.
Calbee’s move was described as one more example of how geopolitical shocks can reach consumer goods beyond energy itself—through shortages that affect how products are made and packaged. The report said the Calbee group employs more than 5,000 people and that the company was founded in 1949.
Calbee said it will “continue to respond flexibly and promptly to changes in its operating environment, including geopolitical risks, and remains committed to maintaining a stable supply of safe, high‑quality products,” adding, “We ask for your understanding.”