Rice Inflation

Rice inflation. This is bad. I know a while ago I lamented the fact that my favourite pita bread has gone on a price hike due to inflation of wheat prices. But of course, it only hit me when I went to the grocery store to actually replenish my usual stash of pita bread.

Same thing with the rice. Only this time, I am more troubled because I eat more rice than I do bread. And if I am troubled, how are the poor, especially those in developing countries dealing with the price increases?

I have been reading loads of articles on rice inflation, about how it has been affecting rice eating countries in the developing world like Thailand, India and African nations. I knew that there was nothing funny about it - hungry people not being able to afford their staple food item is just plain scary. But it didn't hit home till recently.

Just last week, I drove to the local Indian store get basmati rice. But the prices seemed to me rather prohibitive, so I skipped on buying the basmati rice. I am a rice-eater, but my daily rice of choice is Thai jasmine rice, and I use basmati only for briyanis (and I only cook briyanis occasionally).

Today, I went to Shaws to get my jasmine rice. Imagine my surprise when I saw the prices! It was a 10% price hike, from the last time I bought rice from Shaws, about two months ago. And back then, there was also a 10% price hike. I spent some time studying the prices. In addition to my usual Thai jasmine rice, other kinds of rice also had price hikes; basmati rice from India had the highest price hike. A 10 lbs bag was selling now for $23. Imagine that.

Hmmm, I wonder if the Indian restaurants are now increasing the price of their briyanis. I'd bet they are.