Japan’s Hormuz-triggered black-and-white potato chip bags regain some, but not all, color

Calbee’s potato chips and shrimp chips get partway back to normal as war in Iran drags on. For the past several months, much of the world has been getting an unpleasant geography reminder about the im

Calbee’s potato chips and shrimp chips get partway back to normal as war in Iran drags on.

For the past several months, much of the world has been getting an unpleasant geography reminder about the importance of the Strait of Hormuz. But while it seems like even casually glancing at a map should have been an indicator that the U.S.-led war in Iran was going to disrupt global shipping, it was harder for the average person to see just how widespread the effects would be, such as forcing changes in Japanese potato chip packaging.

In May, Japanese potato chip manufacturer Calbee announced that it would be reworking its traditionally colorful packaging and switching to black-and-white bags for many of its most popular snack products. Why? Because one of the key components in making colored printing inks is naphtha, a liquid hydrocarbon for which the majority of the global supply is sourced from the Middle East, and makes its way to the rest of the world via shipping vessels that sail though, you guessed it, the Strait of Hormuz.

▼ Calbee’s Usushio (“light salt”), Consomme Punch, and Norishio (seaweed and salt) potato chips, all of which went to black-and-white packaging due to naphtha supply issues.

▼ The black-and-white packaging

Sadly, the resolution to the conflict in Iran is turning out to be much more haltingly time-consuming than its beginning.** Apparently the shipping situation has improved enough, though, that Calbee will be reinstating color on its potato chip bags, but conditions are also still bad enough that the color will only be returning to one side**.

Specifically, it’s the front side that’s getting all of its color back, with just a few patches of popping color on the back of the bag. Having to choose between the two, Calbee says it made the decision to prioritize the front in order to make its snacks easier to find for shoppers used to the pre-naphtha crisis packaging.

In addition to Usushio, Consomme Punch, and Norishio potato chips, Calbee says that color is coming back to the bags for its** Kappa Ebisen shrimp chips** and Furugura granola with dried fruit.

There’s actually an argument to be made that with so much modern snack packaging being ostentatiously bright and colorful, Calbee’s black-and-white bags actually stand out more distinctly from competitors’. On the other hand, snack foods are, in a sense, a form of edible entertainment, and an indirect visual reminder of the current strained state of geopolitics and economic woes probably doesn’t put shoppers in a festive, snack party kind of mood.

The recolored packaging is estimated to start arriving in stores on August 3 for Kappa Ebisen, and August 10 or 24 for the potato chips, depending on flavor and package size.