Economists in Japan have been carefully scrutinizing buying trends since the consumption tax was raised in April. Everyone has noted that buying has dipped by at least 4 percent since the 3 percent tax hike went into effect, but many think that it will rebound later in the year since so many consumers bought a lot of stuff just before the hike. And it is also true that some prices of goods and services have gone up, as well, especially food, but for the most part makers have tried to keep them the same, despite the fact that the lower yen has resulted in higher prices for imported ingredients, not to mention increased demand for all food products in developing countries. In addition, the higher price of oil has boosted the cost for packaging.
There's, of course, one tried-and-true solution to the problem of stabilizing resale prices when costs go up: reducing volume. Rather than raise prices, especially at a time when consumers are specially sensitive to any change, manufacturers trim the amount being sold, according to Asahi Shimbun. Nippon Ham, for instance, did not change prices on 82 items in its product line but did reduce the amount being sold by an average of 10 percent. The company's European sausage used to come in bags of 7 weighing 140 grams. For the same price, it's now 6 sausages, or 120 grams. The company's main competitor, Ito Ham, however, has decided to take a chance and increased the price of its pork products, saying that it was inevitable because worldwide demand for pork has risen recently.
The confection industry has been affected as well. Lotte cut the volume and weight of 6 products. Meiji shrunk 10 of its chocolate items, citing a 20 percent increase in cocoa prices from two years ago: Its best-selling Almond Chocolate treat went from 23 pieces to 21.