Japanese snack maker raises prices for the first time in decades

The maker of Japan s Umaibo corn puff is raising prices for the first time, a shock for fans of the miracle snack beloved for decades for its crunch and 10 $0.09 price tag.

A person familiar with the matter said that Yaokin Corp. is increasing the price of Umaibo by 2 apiece to 12 from April due to higher costs. It is the first increase since the snack, whose name means delicious stick, went on sale in 1979.

It is a sobering reminder that Japan is not immune to soaring commodity and transport costs, even after decades of deflation. Japanese companies have been reluctant to increase prices because they fear of losing cost sensitive customers, which is why prices are surging in the West.

The price of Umaibo has been the same for so long, so a 2 increase is a big deal, said Noriko Eda, 59 year old housewife. I was surprised. Umaibo comes in 15 flavors, from cheese to seasoned cod roe, with creamy corn soup the best seller, similar to cheese puffs but shaped like a cylinder.

Around 700 million of the crunchy sticks are sold annually, both in packs and individually. The low price has kept single sticks within the reach of children's allowances for years, and for many Japanese people the snack evokes memories of childhood or the neighborhood sweet shop.

Naomi Hosaka, a 51-year-old housewife, said it was sad that the impact is being felt on cheap snacks and the things that children are able to buy.

Japanese companies are being squeezed due to the weak yen driving up import costs, as well as higher raw material costs. Food manufacturers often react by shrinking packages instead of raising prices outright — a trend known as shrinkflation — something Yaokin did with Umaibo in 2007.

Takeshi Nemoto, who has been in charge of purchasing snacks at the Tokyo snack shop Kawahara Shoten for decades, said other manufacturers may have to follow suit with higher prices.

He said there was nothing we can do about the increases. The manufacturer's point of view is that they can't stay profitable unless they raise the price. The change was seen as the end of an era, according to some fans of Umaibo.

Rock musician Atsushi Osawa said on Twitter that we are witnessing a turning point in history. His band, Uchikubi Gokumon Doukoukai, paid tribute to the snack in a song in 2010 that included lyrics about Umaibo's miracle price. He said that the price has started to diverge from the lyrics.