The number of food items that have seen or are set to see price hikes in the first 10 months of 2023 reached 29,106 as of Friday, already exceeding the 2022 total of 25,768, a survey by credit research firm Teikoku Databank showed.
In July, prices are set to rise for 3,566 food items, up about 50% from a year before. Nearly half of the items are bread products after the government raised the price of imported wheat this spring, according to the survey of 195 major food companies.
Starting Saturday, Yamazaki Baking will implement an average price hike of 7% for 227 items, including Royal Bread products. Fuji Baking will raise the prices of some 220 items by a range of 3.8% to 12%.
Nisshin Seifun Welna will lift the price of its 1 kilogram cake flour mix from ¥329 to ¥337. The price of Showa Sangyo's 450 gram tempura flour mix will rise from ¥368 to ¥378.
Seasoning prices will also go up, while price hikes are scheduled for milk products in August or later.
Teikoku Databank estimates that the number of food items subject to price hikes will eventually reach 35,000 in 2023.
Amid rising prices, consumers are reducing the number of items they purchase at supermarkets, affecting sales of frozen foods, hams and sausages in particular, according to a senior official of an industry group.
The yen's weakness may fuel more price hikes.
"If the yen remains as weak as it is now for as long as six months, price hikes could accelerate again through the summer of next year," a Teikoku Databank official said.