TOKYO - Major Japanese snack maker Calbee Inc. said Thursday it will gradually resume full-color printing for the packaging of eight products, including its mainstay potato chips, from late July shipments after easing ink procurement concerns, while some other products will continue using monochrome packaging.
Frugra fruit granola will return to full-color printing across the entire package and start hitting store shelves from the week of July 27. Certain sizes of four varieties of the Potato Chips line as well as Kappa Ebisen shrimp crackers will feature color printing on the front side only starting August.
Calbee began switching the packaging for 14 of its top-selling products from late May amid uncertainty over naphtha supplies stemming from the Middle East conflict. The remaining six products, such as Kataage Potato chips, will remain in monochrome packaging for now.
Naphtha is commonly used as a raw material in the production of plastics and as a printing ink solvent.
