Cheaper stockpiled rice starts hitting store shelves in Japan
Bags of reserve rice released from government stockpiles are seen on the shelves at an Ito-Yokado supermarket in Tokyo on Saturday.
The Japanese government's stockpiled rice released through direct contracts with retailers began hitting store shelves Saturday, with consumers flocking to the cheaper products.
Major supermarket operator Ito-Yokado Co and home appliance company Iris Ohyama Inc were the first to start selling the rice at some of their shops, both setting a price tag of 2,160 yen including tax for a 5 kilogram-bag.
At an Ito-Yokado store in Tokyo's Ota Ward, 500 bags of rice sold out in just 30 minutes since its opening at 10 a.m. Other Ito-Yokado stores will also start selling the rice on Sunday or later.
At a home center operated by an Iris Ohyama group company in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, some 250 people lined up before 8 a.m. in the rain to get numbered tickets to purchase the rice.
"It's cheap, and that helps," Mitsuko Matsuura, 71, said, expressing her relief that she was able to purchase the rice. She also said its taste was "not so different" from newly harvested rice.
An 82-year-old man was disappointed that he was not able to make a purchase. "We are a family of five, so it's quite tough. I would like to come again to buy (the rice)."
In the latest effort to bring down the soaring price of rice that has been hitting households, the Japanese government began selling its stockpiles through direct contracts with retailers earlier this week.
Subject to the direct contracts is 300,000 tons of rice from 2021 and 2022.
Ito-Yokado secured 5,000 tons and Iris Ohyama 10,000 tons of the 2022 harvest. Supermarket giant Aeon Co and discount store chain Don Quijote will also start selling the stockpiles they procured from Sunday.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries initially offered reserve rice through auctions. But it switched to selling it directly to retailers in the hope that doing so will be more effective in curbing rice prices.
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