The U.S.–Israeli war on Iran just turned Japan’s snack shelves into a ghost town of black-and-white bags, and the crisis is showing no signs of slowing down. Bright colors are gone, replaced by stark monochrome designs. The reason? A critical ink shortage caused by the war’s chokehold on global oil supplies, specifically the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for a fifth of the world’s oil and gas.
According to NPR, Calbee Inc., the Tokyo-based company behind popular snacks like potato chips and shrimp crackers, announced this week that it’s switching 14 of its products to black-and-white packaging starting May 25. The move is a direct response to the disruption in the supply of naphtha, an oil-derived product used in everything from plastics to colored ink.
