Sakuma's Drops survived 114 years and a world war — then inflation killed it in one

Sakumaseika was established in Tokyo in 1908 by confectioner Sojiro Sakuma. Its signature product, Sakuma's Drops — hard fruit candies in a red steel can with eight flavours — became one of Japan's most recognisable sweets. The candy survived the air raids of the Second World War and was immortalised in Studio Ghibli's 1988 film Grave of the Fireflies, where an orphaned girl carries the red tin.

By the 2020s, the candy's customer base had aged. One store owner reported stopping stock in 2021 because most buyers were in their fifties or older. Children had newer choices. Sales of the main product declined. The company posted a net loss of more than $1 million in the 2021 financial year.

The fatal constraint was pricing. Sakumaseika had not raised the product's price for years, and many Japanese consumer goods companies were reluctant to pass on input costs for fear of losing customers. When near double-digit wholesale inflation hit in 2022 — driven by surging raw material and energy prices and a weakening yen — the margin disappeared entirely. A labour shortage compounded the pressure.

On 9 November 2022, Sakumaseika announced it would cease operations in January 2023. The closure of a 114-year-old company threw Japan into public mourning. Approximately 100 employees were affected. A rival firm, Sakuma Confectionery Co — which split from the original company after the war — continued producing a similar product in a green can.

Kept the price flat for years to avoid losing customers, but 2022 inflation erased the margin, closing the 114-year-old firm and costing ~100 jobs.

The company never raised its price despite years of rising input costs, treating a pricing decision as a customer-loyalty risk rather than a survival requirement

The customer base had aged without replacement: children chose newer products, and the candy's cultural nostalgia did not convert into purchase frequency among younger consumers

Near double-digit wholesale inflation and a weak yen in 2022 turned a thin-margin business into a loss-making one within months

A labour shortage raised production costs at the same moment raw material costs peaked, leaving no operational lever to pull

A price held steady for years is not loyalty — it is a deferred cost increase. When input costs rise and the price does not, the company subsidises customers from a reserve that will run out.

The closure prompted widespread media coverage and public nostalgia in Japan. Sakuma Confectionery Co, the post-war spinoff that makes a similar product in a green can, continued operations. The case was cited in Japanese business media as an example of how deflation-era pricing habits became existential liabilities when the inflation regime changed.