A survey was conducted on the retail prices of ehomaki during the 2026 Setsubun season.
The average price of standard gomoku and nanamoku ehomaki reached ¥1,173, reflecting an 11.7% increase from the previous year due to rising raw material costs. This marks the second consecutive year of price hikes exceeding 10%, clearly highlighting the upward pricing trend for staple products. Standard items are particularly susceptible to increases in raw material costs, making price pass-through unavoidable.
In contrast, the average price of seafood ehomaki was ¥1,875, with a year-on-year increase of just 0.3%, the smallest rise seen in the past four years. As these products are already positioned in a higher price range, further price increases were viewed as a potential barrier to purchase, leading retailers to place greater emphasis on affordability. By keeping price increases to a minimum, efforts were also observed to emphasize added value through quality.
Raw material costs continued to rise overall this season. Rice prices increased by 30% year on year, while nori rose by more than 10%. Eggs were up 10%, and seafood ingredients saw sharp increases as well, including a 28% rise in salmon roe and a 10% increase in shrimp prices. In response, retailers moved forward with streamlining their product lineups, shifting from full-size rolls to half-size options, and reviewing ingredients such as the use of U.S.-grown Calrose rice to help curb price increases. At the sales floor level, retailers also strengthened reservation-based sales and limited production volumes as part of efforts to reduce food loss.
Following the trend seen in the New Year osechi market, polarization between high-priced and low-priced products became even more pronounced in the ehomaki market. At the same time, significant price increases for premium items were restrained, resulting in a season where higher-quality ehomaki stood out for achieving a better balance between price and value, making them more accessible to consumers.
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