Canning and bottling slips in Japan
output of canned and bottled goods at 4,551,015 tonnes, down 6.4
per cent from year 2000. However, recent reports show that food and
beverage sales are at last starting to turn the corner.
A report from the Japan Canners' Association puts last year's output of canned and bottled goods at 4,551,015 tonnes, down 6.4 per cent from year 2000. In particular, canned production - excluding drinks - was down 14.8 per cent from 2000 at 339,977 tonnes.
Badly hit was the production of canned fish products which only managed to reach 136,211 tonnes last year, a 16.5 per cent decrease from 2000.
The Japanese food industry has been badly hit in recent years by the combination of a sluggish economy, which has seen unemployment reach record highs, and a series of major food scandals.
The discovery of BSE has had a big impact on the sale of locally produced meats, whereas one of the country's largest dairy producers, Snow Brand, was hit by a food poisoning scare over its powdered milk. Snow Brand is now in the process of being amalgamated with two other leading Japanese dairy co-operatives.
However, there is a hope that there could be a turn around in store for the beverage and food packaging sector, as Japan's Chain Store Association has reported a rare upturn. According to figures it published for the month of May, sales of food and beverage were 1.5 per cent higher than the same period last year.
