Nippon Meat to cut output
scandal, will cut production of ham, sausage and other processed
foods by 40 per cent for August, the major dailies Mainichi and
Asahi Shimbun reported.
In Japan, Nippon Meat Packers, hit by a beef-labelling fraud scandal, will cut production of ham, sausage and other processed foods by 40 per cent for August, the major dailies Mainichi and Asahi Shimbun reported.
The big cut in the production of processed foods, which comprises 40 per cent of Japan's leading ham maker's sales, will significantly damage its business base and could result in employee layoffs, the Mainichi report said.
The Asahi report, however, said that the packer has not decided on the level of production cut beyond September because it can not predict sales after then.
The decision came in the wake of a widening boycott of the company's products by Japan's major supermarket chains, such as Ito-Yokado and Seiyu.
Since the revelation of the beef-labelling scam late last month, these major retailers began withdrawing Nippon Meat's products from their shelves amid growing consumer criticism against the company.
During the last fiscal year that ended March, Nippon Meat earned Y644.8 billion (€5.53bn), of which 18 per cent came from ham and sausage sales and 23 per cent from other processed foods.
