TOKYO (Kyodo) — A record number of ramen noodle eatery operators in Japan went out of business in 2024, according to a research firm, as the food’s reputation for affordability limits room to raise prices amid soaring ingredient and utility costs.
Also hit by climbing personnel expenses due to labor shortages, insolvencies among ramen business operators resulting in liabilities of at least 10 million yen ($63,000) in 2024 jumped over 30 percent to 72, up from 53 in 2023, Teikoku Databank Ltd. said.
Japanese ramen soup noodles typically combine meat and vegetable toppings with broth. Despite rising costs, the average price of a bowl of ramen is still under 700 yen, according to Teikoku Databank. A popular lunchtime staple or late-night guilty pleasure, ramen has also found fans overseas.
But with 2024 ingredient costs as of October up by an average of over 10 percent from 2022, businesses face having to bring prices closer to 1,000 yen. Though low compared with many dining options, crossing that line is seen as a blow to ramen’s everyman image that could drive away diners.
Takatoyo Sato, manager of noodle eatery Menkoi Dokoro Kiraku in the capital’s Shimbashi business district, said he last upped prices in May 2024 in response to tightening business conditions. Most popular among his local clientele is its shoyu ramen with soy sauce-based broth for 950 yen, up from 780 yen in 2021.
“I couldn’t hesitate in raising prices, otherwise we’d have been in the red,” the 52-year-old said on a break between lunch and dinner service during one of the 17-hour shifts he works six days a week.
Nearly 34 percent of the around 350 ramen eatery businesses surveyed by Teikoku Databank reported that they were running at a loss in fiscal 2023.
Sato said the decision had not been received well by all his regulars. “Custom definitely fell after. People don’t say it, but they think it’s just ramen — that view is going to change,” he said, referring to the rising costs of serving up the familiar comfort food.
Some consumers are shifting their perceptions. Munayoshi Suzuki, a 34-year-old Tokyo resident, said he thinks diners have been “spoiled” by low prices, and the food is a “non-necessity” more akin to cigarettes or alcohol.
Into 2025, Teikoku Databank says bankruptcies could continue, with small and medium-sized businesses likely to be more reluctant than larger chains to revise their menu prices.
Sato, too, says he does not think customers can be convinced to pay more just yet. “We’ll just pray costs don’t go up further this year.”
