Suntory announces price hikes starting in October this year

Suntory, a well-known Japanese food and beverage company, announced this week that due to rising production costs, it will launch a large-scale price increase for its bottled and canned beverages in the Japanese market from October this year.

The price increase this time is 20 yen (about 1 yuan). According to the price of the product, the price increase is between 6-20%.

As the largest manufacturer in Japan’s retail beverage market, Suntory’s move is of symbolic significance. The rising prices will also be transmitted to consumers through channels such as street convenience stores and vending machines.

After Suntory announced the price increase, a spokesman for the rival Kirin beer quickly followed up and said that the situation is getting more difficult and the company will continue to consider changing the price.

Asahi also responded that it will closely monitor the business environment when evaluating options. Earlier, several foreign media reported that Asahi Beer announced a price increase for its canned beer. The group said that from October 1, the retail price of 162 products (mainly beer products) will be raised by 6% to 10%.

Affected by the continuous soaring prices of raw materials in the past two years, Japan, which has been affected by sluggish inflation for a long time, also encounters days when it needs to worry about soaring prices. The recent rapid depreciation of the yen has also exacerbated the risk of imported inflation.

Goldman Sachs economist Ota Tomohiro in a research report released on Tuesday raised the country’s core inflation forecast for this year and next by 0.2% to 1.6% and 1.9%, respectively. Judging from the data of the past two years, this also indicates that “price increase” will become a common word in all walks of life in Japan.
According to The World Beer & Sprits, Japan will reduce alcohol taxes in 2023 and 2026. Asahi Group President Atsushi Katsuki said this will boost the momentum of the beer market, but the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on commodity prices, and the yen’s recent The sharp depreciation of the industry has brought more pressure to the industry.