Japan's largest snack maker, Calbee, is switching to black-and-white packaging for 14 of its flagship products due to shortages of ink ingredients caused by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. The brightly coloured bags of its popular potato chips will become monochrome by the end of May.
The company cited disrupted supplies of naphtha, a petroleum-derived ingredient used in printing ink. Japan relies on imports from the Middle East for about 40% of its naphtha consumption, and the Iran war has disrupted these supplies.
Calbee's move follows a brief panic in March when another crisp brand temporarily halted production of a popular snack due to difficulties procuring heavy oil. A government spokesperson assured the public that domestic naphtha refining continues using stockpiled crude oil, and imports from outside the Middle East have tripled since the war began.
Senior government spokesperson Kei Sato said in an emergency broadcast: 'Adequate supplies of the naphtha ink ingredient have been secured for important functions in Japan. We are working with major corporations to ensure naphtha is imported by routes other than through the Strait of Hormuz.'
Calbee, founded in Hiroshima in 1949, has grown into a global snack giant with sales of 322.5 billion yen ($2.04 billion) in 2025. Its shares dipped over 1% on the news, while the broader Nikkei 225 Index rose.
