00:00Summer is boom time for ice cream makers, said Agence France-Presse.
00:04But in Japan, some of the industry's biggest firms are feeling the heat.
00:08They've been accused of acting as an ice cream cartel.
00:11Officials from the Japan Fair Trade Commission have raided six firms on suspicion of colluding
00:16to hike prices.
00:17Meiji, Morinaga Milk Industry, Lotta, Izaki Glico, Morinaga & Co, and Akagi Nyugyo.
00:24Staff are believed to have sent emails or met up for years to coordinate the timing
00:29and size of the increases, said an anonymous source, in a move that would violate anti-monopoly
00:34laws.
00:35Since 2022, ice cream prices in Japan have risen every year around the same time as heat and
00:41inflation climb.
00:42Last financial year, ice cream sales hit a record high of 663 billion yen, or about 3.1 billion
00:50pounds, according to the Japan Ice Cream Association, as the country sweated through its hottest summer
00:56since records began.
00:57Sources say the six companies are suspected of raising the suggested retail prices of ice
01:02cream in increments of 10 yen or 50p, aiming to secure profits for each company, said the
01:08Japan Times.
01:09Prices for two of the country's flagship frozen delights, Meiji's Ice Cream and Morinaga Milk's
01:14choco ice bites jumped in lockstep four times between 2022 and 2025, said the Guardian.
01:21The case threatens to undermine the reputation of some of Japan's largest food companies,
01:26said the New York Times.
01:27The ice cream industry has boomed in recent years.
01:30Last year, it was valued at more than 3 billion pounds, up 3% from 2024.
01:35The rise in prices has stoked public anger at a time where the cost of living is being squeezed
01:40by inflation and higher energy costs from the war in the Middle East.
01:44The ice cream companies have issued statements saying they would cooperate with the Fair Trade
01:48Commission's investigation.
01:49If the Commission concludes that there was a cartel, said Agence France-Presse, it will
01:54order the firms to improve their business practices and pay a fine.
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