Robust California crop ready for business
Jun 25, 2024
TOKYO, JAPAN – U.S. medium grain rice was introduced on two TV news/talk shows on TBS, one of Japan's key national TV stations last week. The reports featured the current Japanese rice market situation, focusing on the recent price increase in domestic rice and suggesting U.S. medium grain as a reasonably priced alternative.
The first report was 10 minutes long and aired on Monday, June 17 talking about the increase in both wholesale and retail prices as a result of smaller supply volume due to the domestic crop experiencing excessive heat in the summer of 2023. The second report, on Tuesday, June 18, was a five-minute segment explaining that U.S. medium grain is more reasonably priced because it is most commonly grown in California, where it is produced on a larger scale than in Japan with lower production costs.
The TV spots also introduced recipes using U.S. medium grain, such as rice salad, risotto, pilaf, fried rice, curry, soup, and rolled sushi, emphasizing that U.S. rice has a slightly larger grain size than Japanese rice, and is less sticky with a lighter texture.
Finally, the reports included a taste test comparing Japanese Koshihikari and U.S. medium grain from California. The judge correctly identified the two kinds of rice, but admitted she could not determine a difference between them if she ate only one rice type at a time.
"We're excited to see U.S. rice on mainstream TV, highlighting its positive attributes," said Chris Crutchfield, a California rice miller and chair of the USA Rice Asia, Turkey Promotions Subcommittee. "California rice production has rebounded this year and we're looking forward to meeting the needs of this important export market."