TOKYO –
Japan’s tofu business is dealing with mounting monetary stress, with 39 producers going bankrupt, suspending or closing operations, or dissolving their companies between January and October 2026, as rising soybean costs and sluggish gross sales depart almost 40% of producers working at a loss.
Tofu, lengthy thought to be one among Japan’s most reasonably priced staple meals and an emblem of worth stability, is more and more caught between hovering manufacturing prices and shoppers reluctant to pay greater costs.
According to a survey by credit score analysis agency Teikoku Databank launched on November 10, tofu producers producing packaged merchandise for supermarkets and different retailers are struggling to take care of profitability as the price of soybeans, their important uncooked materials, continues to rise.
Despite efforts to cross greater prices on to shoppers by means of worth will increase, gross sales volumes have remained sluggish as households grow to be extra cautious about spending in response to broader inflation.
Financial outcomes for fiscal 2025 confirmed that roughly 40% of tofu producers reported losses. Including corporations whose earnings declined from the earlier fiscal yr, the proportion experiencing deteriorating enterprise efficiency approached 60%, highlighting the more and more troublesome working surroundings throughout the business.
Tofu producers face explicit challenges as a result of their merchandise have historically been offered at low costs, with supermarkets steadily utilizing tofu as a closely discounted promotional merchandise to draw consumers.
This pricing construction makes it troublesome for producers to cross rising uncooked materials and manufacturing prices on to retailers and shoppers with out risking an extra decline in demand.
Teikoku Databank warned that the business’s difficulties may ultimately threaten the steady provide of tofu, a staple of Japanese diets.
“Tofu is particularly likely to be used as a promotional bargain during periods of rising prices,” the analysis agency stated, warning that except shoppers and retailers develop a better understanding of applicable pricing, the steady provide of tofu may very well be jeopardized.
The findings underscore the rising pressure on meals producers supplying cheap on a regular basis merchandise, as persistent price pressures and price-sensitive shoppers make it more and more troublesome for producers to maintain their companies.
Source: FNN