Despite the government’s decision to release stockpiled rice, confusion due to the rising price of rice continues. The Reiwa rice turmoil gradually began around August 2024. Around this May, an interesting phenomenon emerged. Mochi barley has been widely adopted for commercial take-out and restaurant meals. Demand for products using mochi barley also rose sharply for households due to the summer rice shortage. Due to the rice shortage, demand for cooking white rice by mixing mochi barley and millet has increased. Behind the rapid growth of products using mochi barley is the improvement in taste through unique breeding. In addition to improving the taste, we have developed a variety that does not reduce the dietary fiber content, which is a characteristic of mochi barley. Mochi barley is characterized by its good texture and rich content of soluble dietary fiber, which is said to have health benefits. If the eating habit of mixing mochi barley and millet with white rice becomes established, it will also help prevent lifestyle-related diseases. This barley was bred in collaboration with a US seed company.
One thing that has survived the rice turmoil of the Reiwa era is convenience store onigiri. Onigiri is something people make at home, and there seems to have been little awareness of buying it. The commercialization of hand-rolled types wrapped in crispy seaweed was an epoch-making event. Around 1978, convenience was emphasized over taste. More and more people are eating onigiri from convenience stores. Onigiri specialty store “Onigiri Asakusa Yadoroku” was featured in the Michelin Guide Tokyo in 2018. After “Onigiri Asakusa Yadoroku” was featured, onigiri became recognized as a delicious food worthy of being placed next to it. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in October 2024, household spending on onigiri increased by 30% in 2023 compared to 2018. Household spending on onigiri increased by 9.3% compared to the previous year, exceeding the rate of inflation.
Looking back at the history of convenience store onigiri, in the early days around 1978, convenience was emphasized over taste. Convenience store ingenuity led to increased onigiri sales. Popular onigiri appeared at each convenience store. For example, in 2018, Lawson released the “Devil’s Onigiri” for 110 yen. The “Devil’s Onigiri” was popular mainly among young people, and sold a total of 80 million units. In addition, high-priced onigiri priced at 201 yen or more also began to sell. Products with fillings such as salmon roe, salmon skirt steak, and Japanese black beef began to be sold for between 200 and 300 yen. Constraints such as the rising price of rice have led to ingenuity and the creation of onigiri that meet the needs of consumers.
