Japanese supermarkets try to attract customer with cheaper US foods

Since the Japan-US trade agreement came into force on Jan. 1, major Japanese supermarkets have start…

Since the Japan-US trade agreement came into force on Jan. 1, major Japanese supermarkets have started slashing prices on US products -affected by the tariff cuts- trying to attract more customers.

Ito-Yokado Co. launched a six-day sale at some 130 outlets on Wednesday, lowering the prices on nine items, including the price of oranges by 10 to 20 percent. Aeon Retail Co. plans to start a sale on kiwi fruit and other products. Seijo Ishii Co., which offers a variety of imported foods, will hold a sale on US wines and nuts from Friday.

Determined to avoid price wars
While hoping to leverage the reduced tariffs to attract customers, supermarket operators are concerned about an escalation in price wars. “We don’t want to enter into price wars,” a senior official of a supermarket operator with some 100 outlets in the eastern areas of the Kanto region told, noting that US beef has already been priced at low levels and that its profit margin is low.