Ink shortage due to Iran war, black-and-white chips packets being printed in Japan

The ongoing tension in the Middle East and the Iran war have led to a worldwide printing ink shortage. This has affected Japan's popular snack manufacturer Calbee Inc. The company said that due to the ink shortage, the colorful packaging of some of its popular products is being temporarily changed to black-and-white.

The Tokyo-based company said that although the design of the popular potato chips and cereal packaging has been changed, the quality of the products inside will remain unchanged. This change will be effective in a total of 14 product lines from May 25. The company said that the use of colors in the new packaging will be reduced to only two colors.

The company said that the decision was taken to maintain a stable supply of products due to instability in the global supply system. Calbee, founded in 1949, also said that they had to take this step to adapt to the changing geopolitical reality. It is worth noting that the company's products are exported not only to Japan, but also to various countries including the United States, China and Australia.

According to analysts, the disruption of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz due to the Iran war has increased oil prices in the global market and created a major crisis in the supply system. As a result, there is a shortage of raw materials and industrial products in various sectors. However, the company has not yet given a specific time frame for how long Calbi's black-and-white packaging system will be in operation.