(Omitted) ■ Will foreign rice become more popular? The popularity of foreign rice will likely continue to grow in the future. However, those involved were surprisingly tight-lipped, and several major import trading companies declined to be interviewed. A representative from a trading company confided: ■Import volume capped at 100,000 tonnes “Right now, there’s a huge demand for imported rice. The soaring price of domestically produced rice is drawing foreign rice in, heating up the bidding war. Our company has received many inquiries from people wanting to obtain cheap imported rice, but it is difficult to purchase as much as they would like. It’s unclear whether distribution to general consumers will continue in the future.” The fundamental reason is that import volumes are limited. The government has set a cap on the amount of staple rice that can be imported at 100,000 tonnes. Domestic production of staple rice this fiscal year is approximately 6.7 million tons. Imported rice accounts for only about 1.5% of that. Bidding for imported rice is generally held four times a year. In a tender held last month, there were applications for 77,094 tonnes, more than three times the quota of 25,000 tonnes. Looking at the total quantity won by country, US rice (almost all Calrose) accounted for just under 60% of the total amount won, at 14,462 tons. Next is Australian rice at 7,996 tonnes. By the way, there were applications for 2,400 tons of Taiwanese rice, but zero of it was sold. ■ Perfect match for “soup-filled beef bowls” The main demand for imported rice comes from restaurants and other food service businesses, and “the most familiar example is beef bowl restaurants,” according to a trading company representative. One would think that this is to maintain prices, but it also seems that a strong focus on taste is also a major factor. The beef bowl chain Yoshinoya apparently uses a blend of mainly domestically grown rice and American rice (though some stores only use domestically grown rice). A Yoshinoya Holdings representative explained the reason for this: “Soft, sticky rice is delicious when eaten as rice, but when used for beef bowls, it absorbs the sauce and becomes sticky, which means that the sauce doesn’t penetrate well. On the other hand, American rice has a good grain and is just the right amount of sticky and sweet.” In other words, it goes well with gyudon. This is especially true if it’s soupy. The ramen chain Korakuen serves white rice made from domestically grown rice, but for its fried rice they use American rice, which tends to have a lighter texture. ■Domestic rice can’t meet the demand According to Mitsuhashi of the Japan Rice Cookers Association, not only is American rice made to suit Japanese tastes, but other foreign rice has also recently been improving its taste. The trading company representative mentioned above said: “Demand for foreign rice is expected to continue to increase in the future. I want the government to expand the 100,000 ton import quota.” According to the “Rice Distribution 2040 Vision” released by the National Rice Sales Business Mutual Aid Cooperative Association in June this year, the number of rice producers in 2040 will be around 300,000, a 65% decrease from 2020. They point out that by the 2030s, domestic rice alone may no longer be able to meet demand. How can we secure rice, Japan’s staple food? There is no time to wait for action. (aera dot. Editorial Department, Akihito Yonekura) 2024/12/08/ 10:00 *See the source for the full text.
>>4 The problem isn’t the number of babies, but whether there are jobs in society that pay enough to raise children in the first place, as historically proven by the baby boom generation with many children and the employment ice age generation The employment ice age generation are those who entered society between 1992 and 2004.
>>32 The brokers are all excited and holding back. JA has raised the purchase price slightly, but it’s a big elephant, so it looks like they’re losing out.
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