Japan: COVID-19 Impacts on Food Distribution in Japan - Update II

Hotel, restaurant, and institutional (HRI) sales fell to unprecedented lows in April, with consumers staying home and tourism halted during the seven-week long nationwide state of emergency, which ended on May 25. However, supermarket sales remained well above regular monthly totals for a third consecutive month. Consumers have purchased higher volumes of home-cooking oriented products, such as baking goods, pastas, and easy-to-prepare meal kits, while sales are down for imported seasonal fruits that usually arrive as air cargo and foods normally limited to the HRI sector, like premium fresh seafood.

Japan: COVID-19 Impacts on Food Distribution in Japan - Update II