Student budgets may be tested by Cup Noodle price hike in Japan

By Kantaro Komiya

TOKYO (Reuters) – Scholar budgets in Japan could come below strain after Cup Noodle, an inexpensive meal lengthy related to late night time research periods, turned the most recent goal of worth rises within the land of its delivery.

The one-two punch of world commodity inflation and a weak yen have spurred a wave of worth rises amongst Japanese shopper staple makers, who’ve extra usually relied on “shrinkflation” – or smaller portion sizes – to go rising prices onto their price-sensitive clients.

Nissin Meals Holdings Co Ltd on Thursday stated it was elevating the value of its signature Cup Noodle to 214 yen ($1.86) per common package deal, up from 193 yen, efficient from June – the primary such enhance in three years.

Cup Noodle was a 1971 fast-food innovation consisting of dry noodles, soup powder and substances similar to greens or meat in a disposable cup that hurried customers – college students included – can put together simply by including scorching water.

Cup Noodle quickly turned successful around the world and stays the No. 1 model of on the spot noodles in Japan, spokesman Kazuki Tsurumaru stated.

With prices rising for transportation, wheat and wrapping supplies, Nissin was left with no alternative if it wished to retain the model worth of its 50-year-old bestseller, Tsurumaru stated, including that Nissin has by no means shrunk the package deal measurement.

“Cup Noodle is a product with a sure set quantity,” he stated.

“It wouldn’t be good for us to chop that, in order that clients stated ‘hey, there isn’t a lot shrimp,’ or ‘the noodles have decreased’ or ‘the flavour’s skinny.’ That’s a stance we at Nissin simply basically is not going to take.”

Nissin additionally introduced 5% to 12% worth rises elsewhere in its on the spot meals lineup, starting from ramen to udon to tofu soup, concentrating on 70% of the corporate’s round 270 merchandise.

Nissin just isn’t alone, with the value of beef bowls, margarine, scissors and lots of different on a regular basis objects going up lately as nicely.

Final month, the corporate making widespread corn puff snack Umaibo jolted the nation by elevating its worth from 10 yen to 12 yen a chunk. It was the primary hike since Umaibo’s debut in 1979..

However Japanese noodle patrons can nonetheless contemplate themselves fortunate. In the US, Nissin has raised the value of Cup Noodles – because the product is thought globally – twice within the final yr.

($1 = 114.8700 yen)

(Reporting by Kantaro Komiya; Modifying by Elaine Lies and Frank Jack Daniel)