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Oil crunch drains colour from packaging of popular Japanese snack brand

Japanese snack giant Calbee is switching to monochrome packaging on some of its products, because of a naphtha shortage sparked by oil supply disruptions related to the Iran war.

Published: 12:40pm, 13 May 2026

One of Japan’s most popular snack brands will temporarily switch to monochrome packaging for 14 of its products. Calbee said on May 12, 2026, that the move was because of instability in supplies of naphtha – a crude‑oil derivative used in printing ink. The company’s naphtha supplies have been disrupted by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the Middle East conflict.