TOKYO, May 29 (Xinhua) -- A total of 1,078 food and beverage products in Japan will see price hikes in June, a sharp jump from 84 in May, as companies move to pass on rising costs, partly linked to the Middle East crisis, to consumers, a research institute said on Friday.
Teikoku Databank Ltd. said a broad wave of price increases is expected to continue through summer and beyond, and projects the annual total of affected products to exceed 10,000, which would mark the fifth straight year above that threshold since the institute began tracking the data in 2022.
By category, seasonings, including spices, accounted for the largest share of June price increases at 450 items, followed by 304 processed food products such as instant noodles.
The cumulative annual total, including products scheduled for price hikes through October, has already reached 9,361.
When companies were asked to identify the factors behind price increases, with multiple answers allowed, 97.7 percent cited rising raw material costs, 74.1 percent pointed to higher logistics expenses, and 73.7 percent mentioned increased packaging and material costs.
Tensions in the Middle East, which were added as a survey category for the first time, were cited by 22.7 percent of respondents. ■