In August 2011, a group of 5 manufacturers of nattō, or fermented soybeans, in Mito, Ibaraki planned to seek damages from TEPCO because their sales had fallen by almost 50 percent. Nattō is normally packed in rice-straw and after the discovery of caesium contamination, they had lost many customers. The lost sales from April–August 2011 had risen to around 1.3 million dollars.
