Japan govt. to expand stockpiled rice sales to eateries, school lunch providers
Japan's government plans to expand sales of stockpiled rice under no-bid contracts to include eateries, food vendors and school lunch providers.
The program to sell stockpiled rice to increase the supply was introduced in response to the doubling of supermarket rice prices within a year. The government has been receiving applications from retailers since June 11 to sell 120,000 tons of stockpiled rice harvested in 2021.
Applications from 46 buyers for more than 18,000 tons of the rice were accepted through Tuesday.
Agriculture Minister Koizumi Shinjiro told reporters on Wednesday that the orders are not close to exhausting the stockpile and it is unlikely that new orders will suddenly come in for tens of thousands of tons. He said that to help curb price hikes, he thought of making the rice available to eateries, meal vendors and school lunch providers who are in need of rice.
Koizumi said the government will start accepting applications from them on Friday. He added that he wants to ensure that stockpiled rice is distributed as widely as possible under the no-bid contracts.
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