Warabeya Nichiyo, a Japanese food manufacturer, experienced a decline of over 4% in its share value on Monday following revelations of cockroach infestation in rice balls that were retailed at a 7-Eleven convenience store. The unsettling news adversely impacted investor confidence, prompting the company’s stock to exhibit a downturn.
Warabeya Nichiyo disclosed that two separate instances involving cockroaches discovered within plum-flavored rice balls, produced at a subsidiary’s factory, had been reported. These rice balls had been subsequently sold at a 7-Eleven store situated in Saitama, a region north of Tokyo.
In response to the unsettling discovery, the Tokyo-based company issued a formal statement on Friday, expressing profound regret for the substantial inconvenience and discomfort experienced by customers due to the contamination.
Following the revelation, Warabeya Nichiyo’s shares encountered a decline of 4.4%, initially plunging by as much as 8.6% during the course of trading. Simultaneously, the benchmark Nikkei 225 share average exhibited a marginal increase on the same trading day.
As a direct consequence of the contamination, Warabeya Nichiyo initiated a recall of nearly 2,000 rice balls originating from the same factory and distributed across 373 7-Eleven stores on both Thursday and Friday. In tandem with this measure, the factory’s production lines were temporarily shut down and subjected to thorough sanitation procedures.
Conversely, shares of Seven & i Holdings, the parent company of 7-Eleven, concluded the trading session with minimal fluctuations in value.