Rising ingredient and labor costs are putting those who make Japan’s quintessentially popular food into crisis. According to data from Teikoku Databank, 34% recorded losses in the last fiscal year. The increase in prices is already inevitable, although many Japanese do not seem willing to spend more for a bowl of ramen.
Rome (/Agencies) – Ramen is increasingly becoming one of Japan’s iconic dishes around the world. It is a combination of noodle (noodles), dashi (broth) and tare (sauce), with the addition of fat or oil and various other ingredients: a popular, complete and, above all, very economical dish. In its homeland, however, the increase in prices in 2024 is creating problems for many restaurants in the Land of the Rising Sun that offer this specialty, each with the characteristics of its own region.
The survey was carried out by Teikoku Databank, a company founded in 1900 with the objective of “protecting companies from fraud” and which today has the largest database of companies in Japan. Among ramen restaurants, the deficit of 10 million yen increased more than 30% last year, reaching 72, compared to 53 in 2023. This situation is not only due to the cost of raw materials and services, but We must add the increase in personnel costs due to the shortage of labor, accompanied by the unstoppable demographic winter, which in 2023 reached a historical minimum.
The main reason for the high number of bankruptcies is the fact that the cost of ramen remains low despite the price increase. The average price of a bowl of ramen, in fact, is still less than 700 yen (about 4 euros), according to Teikoku Databank. But with ingredient costs rising more than 10 percent on average in 2024 starting in October compared to 2022, companies have been forced to put prices close to 1,000 yen (about $6). While that price is still low compared to many other culinary options, raising it is considered to negatively affect the image of this popular food and could scare away customers.
Takatoyo Sato, manager of the Menkoi Dokoro Kiraku restaurant in Tokyo’s Shimbashi financial district, told the Japanese news agency Kyodo News that the last time it increased prices was in May 2024. The most popular among its local clientele is the shoyu ramen with soy sauce-based broth, which costs 950 yen, up from 780 yen in 2021. “I couldn’t help but increase prices, otherwise we would have gone into the red,” the 52-year-old said during a break between lunch and dinner service, in one of the 17-hour shifts that he works six days a week.
About 34 percent of the 350 ramen restaurants surveyed by Teikoku Databank reported losses in fiscal 2023. Sato explained that the decision to increase prices has not been well received by many regular customers. “We have lost a part of our clientele. Although they don’t openly admit it, many people think that, after all, it’s just ramen… But that view will change,” he said, referring to the rising costs of even offering this food.
For their part, some consumers are beginning to change their minds. Munayoshi Suzuki, a 34-year-old man from Tokyo, said customers were “badly accustomed” to the low prices and that ramen is now considered a superfluous product, on the same level as alcohol or cigarettes. Looking ahead to 2025, Teikoku Databank predicts that business closures could continue and that small and medium-sized businesses will likely be more reluctant than large chains to adjust their menu prices. Sato also said he is skeptical about convincing customers to pay more. “We can only hope that costs do not continue to increase this year,” he concludes.
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