TOKYO, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Japanese food and beverage maker Kagome Co. said Thursday it will introduce simplified packaging for some of its tomato ketchup products due to tightening ink supplies linked to the ongoing tensions in the Middle East.
Kagome said the white ink used as the printing base for its ketchup packages has been affected by a shortage of inks and coatings in general. The company added that finding substitutes is difficult because only limited types of white ink are suitable for the printing process.
Under the temporary redesign, parts of the packaging that are currently printed will be replaced with transparent sections to reduce ink usage.
The pared-down packaging will be introduced sequentially from later this month.
Kagome is not the only Japanese company simplifying packaging amid ink shortages. Earlier this week, leading Japanese snack maker Calbee Inc. said it would begin selling 14 potato chip products in black-and-white packaging later this month in response to a tighter supply of crude oil-derived naphtha.
Naphtha is a critical feedstock for the chemical industry, and its shortage in Japan has rippled downstream, squeezing the supplies of solvents and resins used in printing ink.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi had previously said that the country was on track to maintain enough naphtha-derived chemical products to last beyond the end of this year, following efforts to diversify imports outside the Middle East amid persistent regional conflict. However, actual conditions in the market and across the industry appear to tell a different story. Enditem
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