Did you know that over 40% of the rice grown in California is exported to Japan? That is a whole lot when you think about how rice is a sort of cheap staple product. Not that Japan could grow its own locally, but it seems like it would be more expensive to ship it to Japan than it would be to buy it, say, anywhere else in the world. Maybe problems with China won't allow them to buy it there, but surely there is somewhere closer.
Another thing I recently learned about rice is that there is a staggering profit margin on it. For something that is widely seen as a commodity-it blows my mind that some rice companies in California are getting an over 45% margin on rice. On rice! OK, sure, some of the higher margin products are "exotic" grain blends, but mon dieu do people the world over really not know that you can buy the same products at the Han Kook Market for about 25% of the price?? I will bet that you can buy California rice that was exported to Asia and then re-imported under an Asian brand name for less money. I guess that is market segmentation for you, but it sure seems like a lot of wasted resources.
I remember hearing something the wide reach of the California rice industry while in Japan. I will never forget the time I sat down on a bullet train to the Shizuoka Prefecture, ready to dig in to a seemingly freshly made bento box of unagi don (eel over rice) and noticed it said "made in California" in tiny print across the back of the paper label. In train stations in Japan you can get these great fresh lunch boxes to take with you, reasonably priced and of impeccable quality. Apparently, made right here in California, (with eel probably caught in Taiwan, sold to California through the Tsukiji market in Tokyo, and then shipped back to Tokyo in the bento).
I ask you, if they are made here, why can't I buy anything even remotely comparable here?
My outrage is boundless.
# posted by Comida Evangelista : 8:23 PM
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