Lawson is considering using foreign rice in bento lunches
Sadanobu Takemasu, president of Lawson Inc., during an interview with The Asahi Shimbun in Tokyo on June 17 (Sho Ito)
In response to rising rice prices, Lawson Inc. is considering using rice grown overseas in its bento box lunches, the company president said in an interview with The Asahi Shimbun on June 17.
Sadanobu Takemasu explained that Lawson is currently working on developing product prototypes using rice from the United States and Southeast Asia.
'I hope we develop products that customers will be able to appreciate by using cooking methods suited to the rice,' such as using Thai rice in green curry, Takemasu said.
The company will decide whether to procure foreign rice in earnest in the future by looking at overall rice price trends.
The average price of 5 kilograms of rice sold at approximately 1,000 supermarkets nationwide has fallen for three consecutive weeks, but is still nearly double that of the previous year.
'Fundamentally, it is important that supply and demand stabilize. Until we see that, we need to study various options,' Takemasu said.
With the rising cost of rice, restaurant chains and supermarkets have already begun to use and sell foreign rice products.
However, major convenience store chains are notably cautious.
Seven-Eleven Japan Co. has been using Australian rice in its fried rice onigiri and its chilled fried rice bento since February.
However, a spokesperson said it is based on the characteristics of the products and is not a response to the rising rice prices.
FamilyMart Co. also said that it is not considering using foreign rice.
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