Photo/Illutration Food products at a supermarket in Tokyo’s Chuo Ward in December (Keiichi Kitagawa)

The prices of 12,054 food items, ranging from seasoning to booze, will increase this year at a faster pace than in inflation-plagued 2022, a survey showed Jan. 31.

Teikoku Databank Ltd.’s survey covered 195 food companies, including 90 new respondents.

In 2022, the prices of 25,768 food items rose, with the number topping 10,000 in July.

But this year, the figure is expected to exceed 10,000 in April.

And in February alone, the prices of 5,463 food items, or 40 percent of the total, will jump, the research company said.

Frozen pizza produced by Maruha Nichiro Corp., “udon” noodle products made by TableMark Co., Kagome Co.’s ketchup, and wine from Mercian Corp. are among the 5,463 items.

By month, the total for February will represent the second largest, trailing only the 7,864 for October 2022.

Processed goods, such as frozen and canned food, accounted for 6,657, or more than half, of the 12,054 items, while seasoning products, such as soy sauce, represented 2,236.

According to the survey, 1,810 alcoholic beverages and other drinks will cost more this year.

The average maximum rate of increase per item was 16 percent, the survey showed.

For more than 99 percent of the food items that will cost more in 2023, the companies blamed rising costs of raw materials, according to the survey.

Higher energy expenses were cited for the price increases in 88 percent of the food items, while more expensive packaging materials were cited in 71 percent, and the weaker yen in 25 percent.

The prices of bread and other wheat-based products could also increase, Teikoku Databank said.

The Japanese government in April is expected to revise the price at which it sells imported wheat to milling and other companies.

The range of the revision will determine whether consumers will pay more and by how much, the research company said.

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