Calbee ends black-and-white packaging — making it a collector's item

Japanese snack maker Calbee is phasing out the black-and-white packaging it introduced in response to a naphtha supply shortage.

News of the return to color has prompted consumers to seek out the monochrome bags, with many calling them a "historic limited edition" whose value could rise.

Calbee announced Thursday that it would begin restoring color to the front panels of some products, including its Potato Chips line, starting that day. A modest improvement in the procurement of raw materials such as ink allowed the company to partially resume color printing after roughly two months.

Calbee had switched the packaging of 14 snack products — including potato chips — entirely to black and white beginning with shipments on May 25, as the prolonged US-Iran war destabilized naphtha supply. Naphtha is a key raw material used across the packaging process, from plastic film to printing ink.

Starting July 27, two products — including the cereal Frugra — will have both sides of their packaging restored to full color. From the following month, the front panels of six products will return to color, among them Potato Chips Usu Shio (lightly salted), Consomme Punch and Kappa Ebisen shrimp crackers.

However, the remaining six products will keep their all-black-and-white packaging for now. Calbee said it still needs to conserve ink to ensure stable product supply and will expand color printing in stages.

The company explained that it is restoring color to the front panels first because that is "the part that can most effectively convey necessary product information to consumers." Calbee added that it will continue conserving raw materials, monitor procurement conditions and respond flexibly to changes in the business environment, including geopolitical risks.

Meanwhile, news that the black-and-white packaging would disappear has driven a wave of activity on Japanese social media, with some consumers actively seeking out the monochrome products before they are gone.