ARLINGTON, VA – USA Rice released the annual U.S. Rice Domestic Usage Report today, tracking domestic shipments and consumption of U.S. milled rice from August 2021 through July 2022. This year’s report has added new consumer research data that gives a clearer picture of who is eating rice, where they are consuming it, and where they are buying it.
Additionally, this year’s report continues with changes made last year, including import data for jasmine and basmati rice, and a recalculated annual domestic consumption. These changes have provided better representation of the industry, and a more accurate picture of which types and how much rice is consumed in the U.S.
According to the report, U.S. rice mills shipped 104.7 million cwt of rice to domestic and foreign markets, a decrease of 1.3 percent versus the 2020-21 market year. Overall, the report captures 66.7 million cwt of rice shipped domestically, an increase of 3.6 percent compared to last year. Of that, 61.1 percent is for direct food use and 38.9 percent for processed foods like pet food, beer, sake, and snacks. This distribution is very similar to that of 2020-21, with only a slight uptick in direct food use shipments, indicating stable trends in domestic demand in these areas.
The market year 2021-22 report reflects a stabilization of market impacts following the coronavirus pandemic, during which many people were forced to change their eating and shopping habits due to health restrictions. This year, retail purchases saw a slight decrease, while mainline foodservice regained some of the ground it lost over the past two years.
“Each year, the goal of the Domestic Usage Report is to provide a thorough and informative resource for the U.S. rice industry,” said Gary Reifeiss, with Producer’s Rice Mill and chair of the USA Rice DUR Subcommittee. “This year, carrying on recent changes and adding in new consumer research data, the DUR has evolved one step further towards this goal.”
The report is free for USA Rice members who have participated in data collection. All others can go
here to purchase a report for the reduced fee this year of $250 ($500 for non-members).