The Cheese Cake Factory (CCF), Japan’s cheesecake restaurant chain, has been declared bankrupt, following huge rises in dairy products in East Asia.
The company collapsed with debts of 1.3bn yen (£6m) after seeing the cost of cheese nearly double in a year.
China has seen demand for dairy products increase as the economy grows and to date has imported 90% of its cheese, however, the price of Australian cheddar has risen by nearly 50% in the last few weeks, from $3,000 (£1,533) per tonne in 2007 to $5,700 during the first quarter of 2008, directly impacting the Japanese food industry.
Milk producers in China have also been directly affected by the soaring prices of animal feed, which have been impacted by extreme weather and growing demand for commodities to produce ethanol.
As a result, the Chinese government has demanded that banks extend credit terms for struggling dairy operations to prevent further bankruptcies.
Analysts forecast that the cost of cheese is likely to rise worldwide.
