Japan Ramen Shops: Updated January 15, 2025..

 

Record number of Japan ramen eateries went bankrupt in 2024

Article source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250111/p2g/00m/0bu/026000c

Ideas:

Ramen has always been considered a non-expensive food and not using the phrase cheap. as globally it is/was eaten my many people such as college students, people on limited budgets, and or course the average salary man in Japan for lunch, as the price usually was not very expensive.

But unfortunately, as utility prices increased and ramen ingredients have increased, ramen shops might have wanted to increase their prices, but whomever, didn't like the idea of ramen prices increasing and maybe the normal customer had no choice but to forgo their favorite lunch meal, and probably headed to the nearest convenience store for something less expensive.

Unfortunately, in a market economy there are going to be those who succeed and those who don't. Again, even though the ramen shops might have wanted to pass-on their increased costs to the retail customers, maybe some or many customers didn't like it and didn't go back.

Perhaps increased ramen prices have become very elastic meaning when the average customer sees a price that they feel is now too high they think twice about it or they don't go there anymore.

The problem or challenge seems to be that even though ramen prices are still relatively low, the average Japanese person's disposable income might be too little to even consider the increased ramen prices.

Its like a multiplier affect that begins to affect all purchases in Japan and not ramen shops and their increased prices.

Yes, maybe many ramen had to do the same thing but maybe the price increase was too much for some or many of the customers and they voted with their feet and didn't go back to the ramen shop, again looking for a substitute and maybe a convenience store.

Unfortunately inflation has not stopped in Japan and raw material and utility prices keep going up and has hurts many businesses in Japan along with stressing out Japanese families.

Ramen maybe should be considered a staple for the Japanese and maybe the Japanese government could temporarily place ramen prices at ramen shops on the price control list, meaning shops can't increase prices beyond as certain prices, and then compensate ramen shops with some kind of subsidy to help them survive.

Even though there are 34 percent running at a loss, it could be much worse, but at the same time, again. in a market economy there are going to be those who are successful and those that aren't.

A few years ago, as I was having a conversation with a venture capitalist in Tokyo, he said his company specialized in helping restaurants and supermarkets that were having financial problems and tried to help them survive.

But probably not all venture capital companies are that considerate and they might want to take them over, sell them or something like that.

Sometimes consumers/customers adapt to the change in prices and don't think much about it. But if their disposable income is already much less than normal they might have an imaginary price line that they think they can't afford even though they might want it or think they need it.

Yes, small and midsize shops with less resources and not a lot of extra funds  might think twice about increasing prices, while the larger firms might have no problem increasing prices and they feel they and withstand the loss of some customers and the price increase along with the customers they retain will still be enough to stay the black.

The smaller firms with less resources might not have a choice and might increase prices anyway hoping that they can still attract enough customers to ride out the current challenges.

Have a nice day!