Business Apr. 23, 2008 - 10:09AM JST ( 0 )

TOKYO —

Kagome Co said Tuesday it will raise retail prices of its vegetable drinks such as tomato juice and 100% pure fruit juices by 3.8% to 9.4% from July 1, except canned and bottled juices.

It will be the first hikes for Kagome’s 58 home-use juices and eight restaurant-use juices since their introduction, except 100-milliliter carton products, the company said. The rises reflect raw material prices pushed up by drought in Australia and reduced acreage of fruit and vegetable fields on the back of growing global demand for biofuel.

JCN