HOKKAIDO, Jun 19 (News On Japan) –
Rice costs stay excessive, and the results of the “Reiwa Rice Crisis” are being felt past simply the staple rice consumed in each day meals.
“A glass of ‘Kitano Nishiki,’ a sake brewed from Kuriyama-grown rice. You can really taste the sweetness of the rice, and it’s delicious.”
With the rising international demand for Japanese meals and, in December 2024, the registration of “traditional sake brewing” as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, Japanese sake is drawing worldwide consideration.
However, sake breweries are dealing with the brunt of rising rice costs, as uncooked materials prices proceed to rise.
“The cost of rice has increased significantly, so we have no choice but to pass the price increase on to consumers,” explains a sake brewery.
The worth hikes are affecting sake rice producers as effectively.
“If things continue this way, we may see a reduction in the area planted with sake rice or even the disappearance of sake rice farmers,” a sake rice farmer warns.
The “Reiwa Rice Crisis,” which appears to don’t have any finish in sight, has put sake makers in a troublesome place.
At Kobayashi Sake Brewery in Kuriyama Town, Hokkaido, a brewery with a historical past relationship again to the Meiji interval, the hovering worth of rice is having a big impression.
Kobayashi Sake Brewery’s Director, Kobayashi Beishu, states, “If the retail price of sake increases suddenly, restaurants and consumers will find it harder to afford.”
Concerns are rising that the worth will increase could result in a decline in sake consumption, with some shoppers turning away from sake as a consequence of greater costs. To handle the growing value of uncooked supplies, Kobayashi Sake Brewery can be engaged on refining its rice milling course of to enhance effectivity.
“We are experimenting with ‘flat milling,’ which aims to reduce excessive polishing of the rice while maintaining a high yield, expecting to produce better sake,” Kobayashi explains.
Similar to the worth hikes seen in staple rice, the price of sake rice, the important thing ingredient in Japanese sake, has additionally surged.
Hokuren, which handles practically all sake rice manufacturing in Hokkaido, units its gross sales costs by consulting with sake breweries nationwide. The 2024 gross sales worth for Hokkaido-produced sake rice is 15,550 yen per 60 kg.
In distinction, the 2024 transaction worth for “uruchi rice” (staple rice) surged to 24,500 yen, greater than 9,000 yen greater than the earlier 12 months, surpassing the worth of sake rice.
In the city of Shin-Totsukawa, Hokkaido, which boasts the most important sake rice manufacturing space within the prefecture, some farmers have already began shifting away from sake rice farming.
“The financial returns are higher from growing uruchi rice,” says Kawamura Noboru, Deputy Head of the Pinne Sake Rice Producers Association. “Many farmers have quit producing sake rice.”
In Shin-Totsukawa, 15 farmers have been rising sake rice on about 148 hectares within the 2024 fiscal 12 months. However, in 2025, this space is predicted to shrink to only 100 hectares.
“Growing sake rice is more labor-intensive and complicated than uruchi rice. Naturally, farmers, as business owners, are not going to produce something that doesn’t make money,” Kawamura notes.
Unlike staple rice varieties like “Yume Pirika,” sake rice is more durable to domesticate, extra labor-intensive, and instructions a lower cost, making it much less interesting for farmers.
“If this continues, we may see further reductions in the area planted with sake rice or even the extinction of sake rice production,” Kawamura predicts. “Eliminating the price gap between sake rice and uruchi rice would be the best solution.”
Amid the continued “Reiwa Rice Crisis,” Hokkaido-produced sake rice has been gaining recognition, however the important thing problem stays discovering a worth that each one stakeholders—shoppers, sake producers, and rice farmers—can settle for.
Kobayashi Beishu concludes, “While costs are rising across the board, trying to bring prices back down to the original levels wouldn’t be beneficial, even from a farmer’s perspective. The goal should be to settle at a fair price, one that is balanced and reflects the current situation. This is the important part in resolving the rice crisis.”
Source: HBCニュース 北海道放送