SAPPORO — Corn on the cob is quickly becoming a luxury delicacy in Hokkaido, a prefecture famous for producing sweet kernels, lightly doused in soy sauce and grilled. Or just boil it.
In the face of supply shortages, prices are rising again for staple foods that, like crab and ramen, bring many tourists to the northernmost tip of Japan's main island each year.
Food truck parked on the side of the city'Odori Park is considered to offer the best corn around.
This year, food truck operator Yamaga Livestock raised the price of one ear of corn to 500 yen. This follows last year's 100 yen price increase.
According to President Kenichi Yamaga, the root of the problem dates back a year.
This year, the corn food truck started operating on April 20th. Normally, the service runs until October, but frozen corn from the previous year is used until the fresh corn is harvested in late July.
Last year, after the novel coronavirus was downgraded to an infectious disease, tourists flooded in not only from Hokkaido but also from overseas.
The company had a stockpile of 30,000 frozen corn ears, but they ran out around June, forcing the food truck to temporarily close. Yamaga Livestock has resumed operations by purchasing corn from farmers in Hokkaido with which it does not normally have a contract.
The reason why last year's frozen corn stockpiles were lower than usual is because people's panic over the new coronavirus infection eased in 2022, and corn food trucks became more active among local residents. As a result, he often waited in line for an hour before being served. One customer purchased 40 ears of corn at a time. At that time, each ear cost 300 yen. This means that some of the corn that was frozen for use in 2023 was instead used a year earlier.
Fifty thousand ears were frozen for use this year, but some had to be used again the previous year because last summer's record heat shortened the harvest season. This means the company started this year's operation with the same stockpile of 30,000 frozen ears as last year.
Yamaga is looking for new farmers to contract with for the corn he will sell this year, but he doesn't know if the supply will continue.
