When War Turns Packaging Monochrome

When I was in Ireland in May a friend asked me had I seen any of the monochrome packaging in Japan yet. I had no idea what she was talking about. She showed me a couple of posts about it online. The move to monochrome packaging is a direct response to the ink ingredient shortages caused by the Iran war and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

When I came back to Japan in early June, I was on the lookout for such packaging, but there was none out in our area at the time. But I realized that the story was big in Japan. The emergence of monochrome packaging was making the news and talk shows on national television daily. Finally, yesterday, I saw my first monochrome packaging in real life. My husband had spotted them in the store and brought some home. The ones in our local supermarket are all for Calbee potato chips

Calbee relies on naphtha, a petroleum‑derived material essential for printing colored ink, and Japan imports about 40% of its supply from the Middle East. With those supply lines disrupted, Calbee decided to temporarily shift to black‑and‑white designs, of 14 products, to keep production running despite the unstable availability of raw materials. It is adapting to the shortages and associated rising costs with this practical, crisis-driven measure, to maintain output of some of Japan's most beloved snacks, in a time of great uncertainty.

Have you seen any of the monochrome packaging yet? Was it Calbee or another brand?