Yata vows cheaper food after openings

Food prices at the Japan-themed department store chain Yata will fall further when three new outlets open in the next three months, it said.

Although the chain, the retail arm of Sun Hung Kai Properties, said it did not expect the yen to decline much more, Yata's chief executive, Daniel Chong Wai-chung, said prices of fresh and prepackaged food at its supermarkets could go down a further 2 to 3 per cent thanks to economies of scale.

Yata's food prices have dropped 7 to 12 per cent since the yen started falling in October. Some products, such as Japanese noodles, now cost less than they did in 2009.

Chong said, however, that the drop in retail prices of Japanese goods could never fully reflect the rate of the currency's depreciation, as there were other costs, such as transportation and wages, that were not settled in yen.

The weakened yen has rescued Yata from slowing local consumption of fresh food and household accessories. Sales at its Shatin mall store rose 10.1 per cent in the first five months of this year, while those at its supermarkets in Tai Po and San Po Kong rose 15.8 per cent.

The opening of a new department store in Tsuen Wan and two other supermarkets in Mongkok and Tuen Mun is the start of an expansion plan that is expected to roughly double the number of Yata stores in Hong Kong to 11 by 2017. Chong said another store will open in Kowloon next year.