Restaurants and convenience stores are changing their policy on handing out free disposable chopsticks after China, Japan's largest supplier, suddenly raised the price 30%.
Some restaurants have stopped providing throwaway chopsticks to customers to help forest conservation, and a number of convenience stores have started to charge for disposable chopsticks made from domestically grown wood.
According to the Forestry Agency, about 25.9 billion pairs of disposable chopsticks were used last year, of which about 25.4 billion pairs, or 98%, were imported. China is the largest supplier, accounting for more than 99% of imports.
In November, Chinese exporters notified the Japan Chopsticks Import Association in Gojo, Nara prefecture, and other importers of a 50% price increase. The increase was tied to the rising cost of labor and wood and a greater awareness of the importance of protecting forests in China. The Japanese side managed to negotiate the price increase to 30%.
"There is no other country in the world that can supply disposable chopsticks in quantities as large as China, so we can't very well find another supplier," said Ichiro Fukuoka, secretary-general of the association.
Marche Co. of Osaka, which operates restaurants across the country, abolished the use of throwaway chopsticks - about 15 million pairs a year - and switched to plastic ones that can be washed and used again.
"We were concerned that our customers would complain over the change, but we haven't had any complaints that it is unhygienic. We've been able to reduce the amount of garbage," Marche spokesman Tomohiro Ajioka said.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
