Supermarkets offering foreign-grown rice as Japan faces record prices

Japan's supermarket operators have been strengthening sales of cheaper, foreign-grown rice, offering another choice to consumers hit by rising prices and concerns about shortages of the country's staple food.Aeon Co. will start selling California-sourced rice on June 6 at its stores, mainly in urban areas, at 2,894 yen ($20) for 4 kilograms. Converted to the more common Japanese sales unit of 5 kilograms, it is 3,618 yen, some 15 percent cheaper than the average price calculated by the farm ministry of Japanese-grown rice at supermarkets nationwide in early May.The company already launched …READ FULL ARTICLE