Key takeaways:
- Calbee’s switch to monochrome packaging has exposed how heavily the snack industry depends on naphtha-linked petrochemical supply chains.
- Naphtha is widely used in packaging inks, films, coatings and adhesives that underpin modern flexible food packaging worldwide.
- Prolonged disruption linked to the Iran conflict could increase packaging costs and pressure manufacturers to simplify designs and reduce print complexity.
The brightly coloured snack bag has become one of the defining symbols of modern food marketing. From the deep red of KitKat and the electric orange of Doritos to the metallic finishes used by Pringles, Takis and Cheetos, colour does much of the selling before a consumer even reaches for the product. That makes Calbee’s decision to temporarily shift some of its best-known products into black-and-white packaging feel strikingly out of step with an industry built on visual impact.
The Japanese snack giant said it would temporarily simplify the packaging of 14 products, including its flagship potato chips and Kappa Ebisen snacks, in response to shortages affecting petroleum-derived raw materials used in printing ink and packaging production. The disruption has been linked to instability in Middle Eastern supply chains following the escalation of the Iran conflict and mounting pressure on shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz.
At first glance, the issue sounds oddly niche, but a monochrome potato chip bag will be visually jarring precisely because consumers seldom think about the backstory to modern packaging.
Naphtha rarely appears as a consumer-facing ingredient, yet it sits behind the glossy, colourful, lightweight packs that dominate the snack aisle. In fact, it’s embedded in printing inks, flexible plastic films, adhesives, coatings, laminates and solvents that make modern food packaging across a wide range of categories possible.
That dependence stretches far beyond Calbee. Global food manufacturers including PepsiCo, Mondelez, Mars, Nestlé and Kellanova, alongside Japanese snack giants such as Meiji, Pocky-maker Ezaki Glico and Yamazaki Baking, all rely heavily on flexible plastic packaging somewhere within their portfolios, as do supermarket own-label suppliers producing everything from tortilla chips and crackers to chocolate bars and breakfast snacks. While no widespread packaging disruption has yet been reported across the sector, prolonged pressure on naphtha-linked supply chains could eventually create similar challenges around packaging availability, print complexity and raw material costs.
The invisible oil behind modern food packaging
Naphtha occupies an unusual position in the global economy because consumers almost never see it directly, yet entire industries depend on it. It’s a volatile hydrocarbon mixture primarily refined from crude oil and natural gas condensates, usually containing hydrocarbon chains in the C5-C12 range. Refiners broadly divide it into light naphtha and heavy naphtha, depending on boiling range and chemical composition.
Its importance lies in what it becomes. Petrochemical crackers use naphtha to produce ethylene, propylene and benzene – the foundational building blocks for plastics, synthetic fibres, solvents and industrial chemicals. Those materials ultimately end up in snack packaging, beverage bottles, pouches, wrappers, labels, coatings and inks.
A standard crisp packet is no longer a simple plastic bag. Modern flexible packaging often combines multiple layers designed to block oxygen, resist moisture, preserve freshness and survive transport. Printed outer films, adhesive laminates and protective coatings all rely, in different ways, on petrochemical derivatives.
In Asia, naphtha remains especially critical because many petrochemical plants were built around naphtha cracking rather than the ethane-heavy systems more common in the US. Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are therefore highly exposed to disruptions in Middle Eastern naphtha flows.
Japan imports a substantial portion of its naphtha from the Middle East, with reports suggesting roughly 40% normally arrives from the region now affected by shipping disruption around Hormuz. The strait is one of the world’s most strategically important shipping chokepoints, carrying a significant share of global oil and petrochemical cargoes.
The problem for manufacturers, however, isn’t simply supply. It’s volatility. Naphtha prices swing sharply during geopolitical crises because they sit at the intersection of crude oil markets, refining margins and petrochemical demand. When conflict disrupts shipping routes or refinery operations, downstream sectors feel the impact rapidly.
That ripple effect is already spreading beyond snacks. Reports from Japan suggest pressure is emerging across consumer goods, plastics, beverage packaging and household products, although Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara dismissed suggestions the country was struggling to secure supply. “At this point, no supply-demand problems have emerged, and Japan as a whole has secured the amount it needs,” he said. Even so, concern persists that prolonged disruption around the Strait of Hormuz could eventually hit industries ranging from automotive coatings and electronics to cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and construction materials, many of which rely heavily on oil-derived chemical feedstocks.
Flexible packaging is particularly vulnerable because it relies on a layered ecosystem of films, resins, pigments, lacquers and solvents. A brightly printed multipack of crisps may contain polypropylene film, adhesive laminates, solvent-based inks and protective coatings – many ultimately linked back to petroleum feedstocks.
That creates an uncomfortable paradox for the food industry. Companies have spent years investing in lightweight packaging because it reduces transport emissions and improves shelf life. Yet those same systems increase reliance on petrochemical supply chains.
Legal, regulated and largely unavoidable
Although the word sounds alarming, naphtha-linked materials used in food packaging are subject to strict safety oversight across major global markets, including Europe, the US and Asia.
In both the EU and US, packaging materials that may come into contact with food fall under strict food-contact regulations designed to prevent unsafe migration of chemicals into food products. In the EU, the overarching framework is Regulation (EC) No 1935/2004, supported by Good Manufacturing Practice rules under Regulation (EC) No 2023/2006.
The European system doesn’t yet have one fully harmonised regulation dedicated specifically to printing inks for food packaging, although industry guidance from the European Printing Ink Association (EuPIA) and national systems such as Switzerland’s ink ordinance and Germany’s incoming Printing Ink Ordinance increasingly shape compliance expectations.
At its core, the regulatory system is designed to ensure packaging materials don’t migrate harmful substances into food at unsafe levels or alter taste, smell or composition.
The US takes a similar approach through FDA oversight of indirect food additives and food-contact substances. Packaging chemicals, coatings and adhesives are regulated according to intended use and migration risk.
Across Asia, countries including Japan, China and South Korea also regulate food-contact materials through national safety standards covering packaging composition, migration limits and manufacturing control.
Those systems underline a key distinction: naphtha-derived substances aren’t unusual fringe materials. They’re actually deeply embedded within mainstream industrial manufacturing and are considered legal when used within approved parameters.
Modern consumer industries are still profoundly tied to oil-based chemistry despite years of discussion around sustainability, circular packaging and bio-based alternatives.
Could snack brands eventually redesign packaging altogether?
For now, most companies will likely treat the issue as temporary disruption management rather than existential crisis. That could mean fewer speciality finishes, reduced colour complexity, smaller promotional print runs and delayed limited-edition packaging launches. Larger multinational brands may be able to absorb higher packaging costs more comfortably through long-term supplier agreements, while smaller manufacturers and private label suppliers could face sharper pressure.
But the optics are significant: packaging has become central to how snack companies compete on shelf. Brands like Takis, Cheetos, KitKat, Oreo and Pop-Tarts rely heavily on vivid packaging recognition and limited-edition visual campaigns to drive engagement.
If petrochemical volatility becomes prolonged, the industry could face uncomfortable choices between branding intensity, packaging complexity, sustainability targets and cost control.
Calbee’s monochrome chip bags may seem like a small packaging change, but they offer one of the clearest signs yet of how geopolitical disruption is beginning to filter into everyday consumer goods.
If pressure on petrochemical supply chains continues, simplified packaging, reduced print complexity and higher material costs could become more common across the wider food sector.
The Iran conflict isn’t only affecting energy markets. It’s also exposing how heavily modern supermarkets still rely on oil-derived materials and chemical infrastructure.
