Business

Japanese Eat More Bread than Rice

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Tokyo- (PanOrient News) Japanese households spent more on bread than on rice for the first time ever last year, reflecting a change in Japanese eating habits, Government data showed.

Food costs for two-member households came to 873,294 yen in 2011, Nikkei reported, quoting an Internal Affairs Ministry survey. The amount spent on rice fell 4.1% to 27,780 yen in the same year whilst bread costs rose 0.2% to 28,368 yen, it said.

The gap between the two staples was roughly 10,000 yen through 2003 but has since narrowed, with bread finally eclipsing rice last year. The report also said that rice is losing out to bread in volume.

Bread purchases gained 20% compared to 10 years earlier, while rice purchases slumped 16%. Rice purchases were 1.7 times that of bread, down from 2.6 in the previous decade but at the same time, households are forking over more money for cooked rice.

Household spending on boxed lunches sold at convenience stores and supermarkets hit a record 13,411 yen. Amid the rise in elderly and dual-income families, consumers appear to be eating rice as part of prepared meals instead of buying and cooking it themselves, the report said noting that sales of precooked microwave rice are up 40%.

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