Japan’s competition watchdog has raided six of the country’s largest ice-cream manufacturers on suspicion of colluding to inflate prices, as consumers brace for another sweltering summer. The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) conducted searches at the headquarters of Akagi Nyugyo, Ezaki Glico, Lotte, Meiji, Morinaga Milk Industry and Morinaga & Co on Tuesday, following allegations of antimonopoly law violations.
The companies are accused of using rising food costs as a pretext to raise ice-cream and frozen dessert prices beyond what was justified by raw material inflation. According to reports from Kyodo News and NHK, senior executives allegedly held meetings and exchanged emails over several years to coordinate the timing and scale of price increases.
NHK highlighted the case with a graph showing how Meiji’s ice-cream and Morinaga Milk’s six-pack choco-ice bites rose in lockstep four times between June 2022 and September 2025. Morinaga Milk issued a statement confirming the raid and pledging full cooperation, saying it takes the matter “very seriously”.
This marks the first JFTC investigation into an alleged ice-cream price cartel, according to sources. Japan’s ice-cream and frozen snack market reached a record 663 billion yen (£3.2 billion) in the last fiscal year, driven by hotter summers and price hikes. Climate breakdown has intensified Japan’s summers, with a new term, “kokusho” (cruelly hot), introduced for days exceeding 40°C. Meanwhile, shortages of air-conditioner pipe coverings, linked to the Middle East crisis, are adding to the summer’s challenges.
