Japan Food Makers suffering from weak yen as cost rises

Food makers are feeling the effects of the economic policies of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, though not in a good way, as the weaker yen drives up prices of wheat, cooking oil and other imported raw materials.

This side effect of Abenomics has been especially troublesome for the food industry, as consumers tend to look for lower prices when buying food products.

Many complaints were voiced about the rising cost of imported soybeans at a general meeting of Zentouren, a national federation of tofu makers’ associations, in Tokyo on Friday.

Soybeans make up about 90 per cent of the cost of making tofu, and about 80 per cent of the beans are imported. Global prices have been pushed up by a drought in the United States–a major producer–which has exacerbated the effect of the weaker yen.

Many tofu makers are small or midsize firms that have little bargaining power over retail prices. “A lot of companies can’t raise prices and have for some time been in the red. Their businesses are stretched to the limits,” said Yasuhiro Saito, Zentouren’s chairman.

Confectionery makers are also hesitant to raise prices. When the cost of raw materials surged in 2008, some firms raised prices or reduced the size of their products, only to see overall sales decline.

AsiaOne

Get OANDA’s exclusive weekly Market Pulse FX

HTMLText

Email Address:

Preferred Format:

This article is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Corporation or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. Leveraged trading is high risk and not suitable for all. You could lose all of your deposited funds.

View the original article: http://forexblog.oanda.com/20130603/japan-food-makers-suffering-from-weak-yen-as-cost-rises/



A quick look on #UCO website will produce a ton of fresh #MLM ideas to help you get more money. Go to http://www.uconnective.com

To Signup you must have a #UCO coin, you can #BUY it with only $3 from ClickAlert or Send e-mail at clickalert@ymail.com or Call/SMS to +1 (202) 599-1808 and start earning $51 per day!