Bad news for Japan’s beef eaters - price hikes on the horizon
February 7, 2008
By Ken Worsley
It seems that every week we’re hearing announcements that prices are about to rise in some sector of Japan’s consumer economy - milk, beer, electricity, cheese, mayonnaise and gas prices have all either risen or are set to rise soon. Now beef prices are set to join that group, with the JA Group announcing on Wednesday that beef prices are set to increase about 15 yen per 100 grams.
Domestically raised beef accounts for about half of the beef sold in Japan, and corn is often used as feed. As global ethanol and oil prices have risen, so has the price of corn. The Japan Times quotes Toshihiko Baba, an official at the JA Group as saying, “We are facing a crisis that is endangering our very survival.” As recently as 1960, nearly all of Japan’s beef supplies were secured through domestic production channels.
Desperate to may a plea for public understanding on the matter, the JA Group intends to hand out some 25,000 packs of tissue paper in Tokyo this Saturday, along with leaflets explaining why meat prices will rise. One has to wonder what other wasteful costs could be cut in order to increase efficiency in the industry…
Filed Under Agriculture, Business
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JA and efficiency in the same sentence is an oxymoron! These are the same folks that invested in a shopping centre on the top of a mountain in Kumamoto ; ) !
Pass the Tissues, Beefy Beef Prices Coming Soon!…
You won’t be surprised to hear that the price of beef is set to increase by 15 yen per 100 grams. Everything else costs more, so it’s only fair, right? What makes this so amusing is the 25,000 packs of tissues that will be given out in Tokyo explaini…
JA and efficiency in the same sentence is an oxymoron!
Case rested!
I’m assuming these are for both retail and wholesale prices. Will the prices of imported beef be hiked at the wholesale level to keep the gap between imported and domestic beef in line? If so, we’d see a trickle down into Makku and Yoshinoya (not that I’d ever eat them…often).
WG, not sure. It’s worth looking into. There was nothing explicit about prices of imported beef being hiked, though one would assume if oil costs are behind the hike in domestic prices, this would affect imports as well, though possibly under a different framework.
So in a country of about 127,500,000 people, JA is going to make its case by handing out 25,000 tissue packets? So I guess the 25,000 lucky folks who get these tissue packets are responsible for telling 5100 other people each about these reasons for the price hike. Good plan.
And I didn’t even see anyone out there today handing out beef tissues in town. Would have made a great souvenir.
WG, by the way, Mos Burger is raising their prices:
http://www.mos.co.jp/company/pr_pdf/pr_080208_1.pdf
The burger items are pretty much set to go up 20 yen and the drinks 10 yen. The announcement cites higher materials and labor costs, but doesn’t specifically mention beef prices.
I just have to say it. Mos Burger is crap. For the price. If it was like 60 yen a cheesburger it would make sense cause you need to eat 10 of them. How much beef is in their patties anyway? Can’t be much.