Jerry_Rice_Photo.jpg)
I'm so sorry, he's retired........
Posted on 04/25/2008 1:15:39 PM PDT by Red Badger
Despite bumper crops in Vietnam and India, export limits and bans have created a global shortage and driven up prices. At the Costco in San Francisco, rice is all the rage. Not long after the 10 a.m. opening on Apr. 24, the warehouse club was well on its way to selling out the day's supply of Thai jasmine rice. Within an hour, customers cleared three pallets loaded with 50-lb. bags of Super Lucky Elephant brand jasmine rice from Thailand. Real estate broker Mary Jane Galviso snapped up two bags—the limit imposed by this particular store. "This is very frightening," says Galviso, who hails from Orosi, a rural community in California's Central Valley, more than 200 miles southeast of San Francisco. Her local grocery, which specializes in Filipino foods, has run out of Thai jasmine. In a dramatic development for U.S. consumers this month, shoppers and Asian and Indian restaurant owners started panic-buying two of the highest-premium varieties of rice—Thai jasmine and Indian basmati. That led many grocers to run out of the rice, and warehouse clubs including Costco and Sam's Club imposed limits on how much rice shoppers can buy. The restrictions placed by Issaquah (Wash.)-based Costco (COST) vary across the country, while Sam's Club, a division of Wal-Mart Stores (WMT), limited its customers to four 20-lb. bags of rice. "We've heard of cases where restaurant owners are hoarding three weeks' supply of rice in their basement, which is obviously more than they currently need, which makes the situation even worse," says Richard Galanti, Costco's chief financial officer. Record High Prices for Rice In a statement Apr. 24, Sam's Club said its rice limits "are designed to prevent large distributors or wholesalers from depleting our stock. ...
(Excerpt) Read more at businessweek.com ...
There's currently no shortage of rice.
From a real estate broker in San Francisco, I find it hilarious.
‘super lucky elephant’ brand ? what genius made up that name ?
I’d expect they laugh about some of our idioms when literally translated.
“Lucky” is a common name for products in Asia and “elephants” are powerful animals. You have to know your customers likes and dislikes..........”Happy” is also another common brand name. I’m surprised it wasn’t “Super Happy Lucky Elephant” brand.....
If you need more than 80 pounds of rice at once (and at worst can't deal with going through the line a couple more times), you should probably be buying it from somewhere other than Sam's Club. That's getting into the "four-pack of grand pianos" level.
Note that all the uproar is over Thai jasmine and Indian Basmati, basically the top shelf varieties. What is the level of demand for native rice grown in the US, from say, Texas, Louisiana or Arkansas? Are these being “rationed?” I haven’t read anything to indicate that they are.
I live in Southern California and was at my local Costco yesterday. I joked with the worker at the entrance and said, “RICE! I NEED RICE!! WHERE IS YOUR RICE!” He said, “We’re sold out”. I saw a story last night that the local restaurants are stockpiling to fight inflation and shortages which explains why the warehouse stores are short in stock.
I'm so sorry, he's retired........
No, they are not. But the Jasmine and Basmati rices are “aromatic” rices that give off a great savory odor when cooking........
As an Ameican who travels in Asia their advertising just makes me laugh! Every day I see more and more take-offs of it in US Marketing.
Yes, you do need to understand the Asian culture...you probably will NEVER see anything priced at $9.99 in China!
This and all the grain shortages tell me - The USA is the equivalent of OPEC in food grains. We change the supply/demand equation due to biofuel mandates, and look what happens to world markets. The USA doesn’t at all produce the majority of food grains in the world - but like OPEC, we control the swing capacity. Makes me wonder - if Saudi Arabia or Russia had the same power over food, how would they use it???? Perhaps we should also understand our position/advantage a bit better also.
I’m eagerly awaiting Coke or Pepsi to start a marketing campaign for “Lucky Happy Tiger Colas”...........
Sure sounds like gas prices, the terrible economy, and California's tanking real estate market are having a big effect on how people drive, shop, and behave.
And it is indeed a premium product.
L
Costco has been out of Thai Jasmine rice for about three or four months now. We go through a 50 lb. bag about every three months. When I went to buy it four months ago at the San Leandro store they had only the 25 lb. bags. About a week later they had some of the 50 lb. bags, but at the end March the San Leandro store didn’t even have the 25 lb. bags. Then we tried the San Francisco store, also out. So we bought American rice instead.
A few years ago you could get a 50 lb. bag for as little as $12.00 U.S. for Buddha Brand or Three Ladies or Golden Phoenix or Butterfly Brand or Chia Meng Bangsue Rice Mill brand in Oakland Chinatown.
A couple of years ago Costco began to undercut the Chinatown price by about a dollar a bag. Now the posted price at Costco for Super Lucky Elephant is $20.99, last time I looked (the Business Week article says $21.99), and they don’t have any.
Note that the “rice shortage” is not the common long grain rice that is found in Mahatma bags, but the premium Jasmine and Basmati types of aromatic rices. Not even the short sticky grain rice of the sushi variety is in short supply. BUT everybody hears “rice” and immediately thinks of their Uncle Ben’s in their pantry...............
The number 3 is also considered a magical number in Asian cultures.........
Or this stuff..........better to eat styrofoam balls......
Unfortunately, because of Algore's using styrofoam to fake crumbling glaciers in his movie there is also a styrofoam shortage.
That's what we buy, Mahatma. To me it's the best.
LOL!
Dang. I’ve got a large bag of Food Lion store brand long grain rice in my pantry ... am I hopelessly outré? And here I’ve been thinking it was pretty good, boiled up with some red curry or chicken broth, lol.
Yes.
Now, go directly to Piggly Wiggly for quality rice.
We no longer have Piggly Wiggly in this part of NC, or I would. I miss seeing their store circulars, advertising ten pound buckets of chitlins on sale, lol.
We don't have them here anymore either, at least in my part of La.
Who is Styrofoam and why would you rather eat his balls? ... hey its Friday
And the next financial bubble to burst will be the commodities bubble.
The rice shortage is self-correcting. Poor people are eating more rice because they cant afford meat and process foods like noodles. As they shift to a basic diet heavy in rice, the supply of the more expensive foods will go up due to lack of demand. As people start eating more meat and less rice, the price of rice will come down.
The problem is oil, not rice and artificial shortages of food grains created by the Greenies. The oil shortage itself is artificial and is also the Greenies fault.
And the next financial bubble to burst will be the commodities bubble.
The rice shortage is self-correcting. Poor people are eating more rice because they cant afford meat and process foods like noodles. As they shift to a basic diet heavy in rice, the supply of the more expensive foods will go up due to lack of demand. As people start eating more meat and less rice, the price of rice will come down.
The problem is oil, not rice and artificial shortages of food grains created by the Greenies. The oil shortage itself is artificial and is also the Greenies fault.
Did you catch that she bought two 50lb bags? Thats a lotta rice LOL. shortage? I think not.
Yeah, what does a realtor do with 100 lbs. of rice?
Yeah, what does a realtor do with 100 lbs. of rice?
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Market went south in California so she got in the Wedding Planning business?
I think both are crops that are not seasonal, nor needs rotation.
At least in Japan you will see very square inch of ground that isn't being used for housing used as a rice paddy. I did see, however, more soybean fields recently in Japan.
Its an election year. Just like last election year, the meme is that the economy is in the tank. There are food riots. In Bangla Desh, or somewhere, not here, but there are food riots somewhere, so in journo-propaganda-world, that counts.
Oh, and even in the United States, there is food rationing. Food rationing? I hadn’t noticed, I somehow manage to be at the grocery store half a dozen times a week and didn’t notice we were rationing food. Rice? I’m limited to no more than a hundred pounds? You’re kidding, right? I don’t think I’ve ever bought anything more than a 5 pound bag at one time, so a hundred pound limit doesn’t really strike me as catastrophic.
But, as I say, its election season. So, in bizarro-propaganda world, it counts. Food riots and rationing.
Wow, I can’t decide between the miscellaneous germs or the pig livings bowel or the cowboy meat.
I can’t believe I am still the only one who picked up on and commented on the fact that this lady did a 400 mile round trip to buy rice!
Paragraphs are nice. They are our friends.
I found the “emersions from fish heads” selection quite attractive.
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