Overview
- Japan’s Fair Trade Commission searched the offices of Meiji, Morinaga Milk, Lotte, Ezaki Glico, Morinaga & Co. and Akagi Nyugyo on Tuesday as part of a developing price‑fixing probe.
- Investigators suspect senior staff exchanged emails and met over several years to coordinate the timing and size of suggested retail price increases for ice cream and frozen desserts.
- The JFTC is also examining whether the firms used inflation as a pretext to push suggested retail prices higher than cost increases would justify.
- Several companies confirmed they were inspected and said they are cooperating with the inquiry, which follows repeated simultaneous annual price hikes since about 2022.
- Suggested retail prices are non‑binding but strongly shape shelf prices, the ice cream market hit a record 663.1 billion yen in fiscal 2025, and a cartel finding could lead to orders to change practices or financial penalties.