Photo/Illutration Farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks during a session of the Lower House Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on May 28. (Takeshi Iwashita)

The 2021 crop of government stockpiled rice is expected to sell for around 1,800 yen ($12.50) per 5 kilograms when it hits store shelves, the farm minister announced on May 28, in a bid to curb soaring rice prices. 

“What is already being sold is ‘ko-mai’ old rice,” Shinjiro Koizumi said at the Lower House's agriculture and fisheries committee meeting, referring to the crop harvested in 2024.

“And what will be on store shelves from next week will be ‘kokoko-mai,’” he said, referring to the rice harvested in 2022.

He added, “The rice (harvested in 2021 and priced at 1,800 yen) that will be sold under voluntary contracts from now on will be even older than that, ‘kokokoko-mai.’”

Applications from retailers for contracts to sell the government’s stockpiled rice have been flooding in, the newly appointed farm minister announced.

Under these new contracts, the ministry will release 200,000 tons of rice harvested in 2022 and 100,000 tons harvested in 2021.

The ministry announced on May 27 that 33 companies had applied by 2 p.m. that day, and by 9 p.m. the number of applications for the 2022 harvested rice was expected to reach the upper limit of 200,000 tons.

As a result, the ministry paused accepting applications for new contracts, including those for 2021 harvested rice.

Koizumi revealed on the evening of May 27 that about 70 companies had applied. The farm minister said he hopes to resume accepting applications as early as on May 30.

The plan is to sell the 2021 rice to local stores and small and midsize supermarkets, he said.

Since the rice is older, the price in stores is expected to be around 1,800 yen for a 5 kg bag, cheaper than the 2022 crop, which is expected to be priced at around 2,000 yen per 5 kg.

By the evening of May 27, a diverse range of companies, including drugstores and online retailers as well as major distributors, had applied.

Iris Ohyama Inc., whose group company contracted for 10,000 tons of stockpiled rice, said it will begin selling the staple on June 2.

The company will put a sticker on the rice and sell it for 2,000 yen (tax not included) per 5 kg.

The company said it plans to sell most of the rice via the internet and at the group’s large retail stores.

As for the sales schedule, many companies indicated their intention to have the rice on store shelves in early June, as Koizumi has sought.

On the other hand, some companies expressed concern about the feasibility of that turnaround time.

Belc, which operates supermarkets mainly in the Tokyo metropolitan area, has applied for 1,200 tons, which it plans to sell at about 150 stores in the Kanto region in early June.

However, the stockpiled rice is normally delivered in the form of “genmai” brown rice, which must be polished and packed before being sold.

A Belc representative said, “We are working with our suppliers to prepare the rice for milling,” but also said, “We have no definite idea how much we can do.”

On the other hand, companies with their own rice milling facilities expressed confidence.

JM Holdings Co., which operates supermarkets such as Niku-no-Hanamasa, has rice wholesalers in its group.

A company representative said, “Once we receive the rice, we will polish it as soon as possible.”

Japan’s three major convenience store chain operators have also applied for government rice contracts or are considering applying.

FamilyMart Co. has applied and plans to sell the rice in smaller-than-usual 1-kg packages for 400 yen excluding tax.

(This article was written by Hisaki Tamanaha, Akihito Ogawa and Sho Ito.)

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