"The economies of the BRICs nations [Brazil, Russia, India, and China] are getting stronger and creating more demand for resources, which is having an impact on demand and our business," Yamashita said.
Empty Shelves
And it is not only Japan's beer firms that have reason to worry.
With little useful agricultural land, Japan can only produce around 40 percent of the food that its 128 million people consume every year—the lowest among industrialized nations.
That means the country is especially hard hit by fuel costs, which make importing a larger burden than in other developed nations.
In the past year, the cost of instant noodles has risen 17 percent, spaghetti is up 13 percent, and mayonnaise 10 percent. In April, butter practically disappeared from supermarket shelves as surging global grain prices made it impossible for Japan's dairy farmers to import enough feed to increase milk production.
For the first time since the oil shock of the early 1970s, stores had to post notices apologizing for not having stocks of basic foodstuffs, sending a shiver through consumers.
According to a survey in April by the economic daily the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, 76 percent of food firms were considering increasing prices, with the majority expecting the price of wheat, soya bean, oilseed, and other key ingredients to continue to rise throughout the year.
It has only been three months since Kirin raised the prices of its beer products, and it is too early to determine whether there has been an impact on overall sales, Yamashita said.
The company estimates that Japan's shrinking population will reduce sales one percent and the price rise will hit total sales to the tune of another one percent.
"The main reason we were forced to raise prices in February was that, despite our best cost-cutting efforts, we could not fully cover the cost of the soaring price of ingredients," Yamashita said.
"But prices still continue to rise. We are very concerned about the situation now and in the future."
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