Japan's low-cost soul food noodles may become casualty of Ukraine war

Intage Holdings

02/05/2022 02:58

By Elaine Lies and Akiko Okamoto
    TOKYO, May 2 (Reuters) - Ryu Ishihara will soon be raising
prices on his inexpensive bowls of soba noodles for the first
time in nearly a decade, as rising costs and Russia's invasion
of Ukraine take an unlikely toll on Japan's beloved buckwheat
noodles.
    Though seen as one of the most quintessential of Japanese
foods - and eaten on New Year's Eve for good luck - a good part
of the buckwheat that goes into the noodles comes from Russia,
globally the top buckwheat producer.
    Russian buckwheat can still be imported, but instability and
shipping disruptions have hampered and delayed procurement. That
has added to the pain for soba shop owners such as Ishihara who
are already suffering as a global surge in commodity prices,
coupled with the yen's plunge, has sent prices climbing.
    Soy sauce, flour, the vegetables used for tempura toppings
and even the fish used for the broth have all risen in cost.
    "The suppliers did all they could, but this time the
situation's so bad there's no way to avoid raising prices. There
are things I'll have to raise by 10 to 15 percent," Ishihara
said in his narrow shop, steaming vats of water behind him.
    Soba is famous as a cheap meal served cold or hot, often
slurped quickly by workers and students in narrow shops that may
cut costs by doing without seats. The noodles' low calorie count
and nutritious vitamin and mineral content makes them healthy
too.
    Ishihara's prices run from 290 yen ($2.25) up to 550 yen,
with add-ons such as tempura and sets with rice costing more.
    "Now, with the war, the cost of importing the buckwheat too
has gone up," he said.
    Despite soba's iconic status, Japan in 2020 produced only
42% of its buckwheat needs, according to the Japan Soba
Association. The gap is filled by imports, with Russia the
third-largest source of buckwheat from 2018, according to the
Agriculture Ministry.
    In 2021, Russia rose to second, displacing China, and up
until February it was No. 1.
    Then it invaded Ukraine, adding to the surge in commodities
prices, while Japan's yen meanwhile plunged to a 20-year low. On
top of that, sanctions and crackdowns on the Russian banking
system, which have frozen Moscow out of international finance,
have made it more difficult to settle some accounts.
    The result has been headaches for soba importers and millers
like Hua Yue at the purchasing department of Nikkoku Seifun Co
Ltd in Matsumoto, a city in the traditional soba-producing area
of Nagano.
    Her company imports buckwheat seeds from Russia, as well as
other nations including China, in 800- to 1,000-tonne sacks,
though she declined to give exact amounts or percentages of how
much each country provides.
    So far, the biggest problems have been delays and a 30% rise
in the price of Russian buckwheat over the last six months,
though that's partly due to an export stoppage last year that
was resolved.
    With Russia producing half the world's buckwheat, problems
mean demand will shift to second-biggest producer China. But
with China cutting buckwheat production every year, prices are
likely to rise further.
    "So it may become hard to eat soba at low-cost places," she
added.
    Ishihara's faithful customers, such as Keidai Fukuhara, who
comes twice a week, shrug higher prices off. But even they may
have their limits.
    "It'll still be all right," the 27-year-old office worker
said. "That is, if the prices stay around 500 yen."
($1 = 128.65 yen)

 (Reporting by Akiko Okamoto, Elaine Lies and Shinji Kitamura.
Editing by Gerry Doyle)
 ((elaine.lies@thomsonreuters.com; +81-3-4563-2748; Reuters
Messaging: elaine.lies@thomsonreuters.com))