Japanese consumers turn to rice alternatives in price surge

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Soaring rice prices and increased consumer frugality are driving changes in dining habits of Japanese, including adding glutinous barley to rice and switching from rice to alternatives like bread and pasta.

There have also been moves to introduce foreign-grown rice, though it was unpopular at the time of the 1993 rice shortage.

Lawson introduced new varieties of Japanese rice balls onigiri using glutinous barley, a type of barley characterized by its sticky, chewy texture when cooked, accompanied by bonito flakes, salmon and tuna mayonnaise, at about 130 Natural Lawson stores in the Tokyo metropolitan area on April 23.

They maintained the price of the new rice balls by using glutinous barley to replace some of the white rice. Glutinous barley is also used along with rice in their bento box.

Glutinous barley takes up more space than rice. While two cups of rice are 300 grams, adding 100 grams of glutinous barley during cooking makes it three cups.

With its high dietary fiber content, glutinous barley had already seen an increase in the number of consumers eating it, but soaring rice prices have drawn even greater attention to it.

Hakubaku, a manufacturer and seller of glutinous barley, reported their monthly year-on-year sales have increased for 11 consecutive months through March. They also increased production by beginning to operate their plant on Saturdays from April 12.

Sales volume changing

According to Japan's agriculture ministry, the average price for a 5-kilogram bag of rice at supermarkets was 4,214 yen ($29) for the week ending April 6. That's more than double of what shoppers paid during the same period last year.

The soaring price is impacting the lives of consumers, with some turning to alternatives to put food on the table. At a supermarket in Tokyo, a woman in her 70s said she was eating more noodles and less rice.

A mother in her 20s was shopping for her family said since rice was a basic necessity, she hoped the prices would fall soon.

"I've switched to eating only bread for breakfast, and I have pasta for dinner once or twice a week," said a 60-year-old taxi driver from Chiba Prefecture.

Supermarkets are also showing a clear trend toward rice alternatives. According to a February survey by research company TrueData, annual sales volume in grocery supermarkets rose by 24 percent for frozen pizza and gratin and 20 percent for macaroni, compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, rice sales declined by 10 percent.

"Staple food products that serve as alternatives to rice are seeing increased demand," according to the company's analysis.

Imports from overseas are meeting some of the supply shortfall. During the single month of February this year, Japan imported nearly 40 percent of the amount brought in during the entire fiscal year 2023.

In Miyazaki's Kushima City, farmer Mori Michihiro is now exclusively growing table rice. Previously, he allocated 10 percent of his arable land for rice — that would be used in processed foods.

Mori said in an interview with Japanese public broadcaster NHK that the government's long-standing policy to control rice production has had serious consequences.

"Rice prices between the agricultural cooperative and farmers have not risen that much," Mori said. "Farmers are not making money from this situation."

He said soaring fuel and equipment costs have made it hard to make a profit by harvesting rice for dinner tables.

"Many farmers have quit due to old age, so there is a limit to how much production can be expanded," he said. "I don't think output can increase much."

The Japan News