Rice is getting cheaper. Private rice stocks stood at 2.55 million tons at the end of September, the largest surplus on record, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said.
At a supermarket in Osaka, new-crop Koshihikari was selling at 2,905 yen for 5 kilograms and new-crop Milky Queen at 3,229 yen. Last year the same store priced 5-kilogram bags above 5,000 yen. Most bags on the shelves carried price tags in the 2,000-yen range.
Shoppers welcomed the drop. "It's come down a lot, and I'm grateful," one customer said. "My grandchild is a student, so I want to feed them plenty of rice." Another said good rice rarely sells at such a price.
The average price of rice sold at supermarkets nationwide has fallen for 11 straight weeks. Chains are now pushing rice to customers in other ways.
A cheaper upsize
Hokka Hokka Tei, a bento chain, had charged 50 yen to upsize a rice portion. It cut the charge to 30 yen on September 12, outside Shikoku and Awaji Island, passing on lower procurement costs. Customers noticed the 20 yen. "That's big," one said after buying a large portion. "It'll help me get through the afternoon."
Shiori Nagamine of the chain's head office said large-portion orders have risen 1.2-fold since the cut. "I hope it helps people's wallets, even a little," she said.
Rival chain Hotto Motto is giving medium and large rice portions free through the end of the year.
The surplus is less welcome at the till for retailers. At a rice shop in Shiga Prefecture, the warehouse holds a large stock of old-crop rice. "Normally it's gone by around May or June," said Toshiyuki Imai of Imai Shoten. "It's rare to have this much left."
The shop had discounted old-crop rice but could not clear it. Imai has now agreed with a wholesaler to move the entire stock by the end of the year. "Holding it only leaves it sitting there, so I'll sell it off," he said.
He expects the clearance to cost the shop close to 3 million yen in losses. "At our size, a loss of nearly 3 million yen is certain," he said. "It wipes out the profit we'd made. It's a large sum."