Posted on: Thursday, May 29, 2003

Price of rice in Hawai'i to rise California rains delay harvest

By Sean Hao
Advertiser Staff Writer

Rainy weather in California is driving up the price of rice in Hawai'i, but the impact may be minimal for the average consumer for now.

Wet, cold conditions have delayed rice planting in California — a leading producer of rice — which may mean less rice available for export. The anticipated shortage is leading to higher prices for rice in several California export markets, including Hawai'i and Guam.

El Niño, a weather pattern that warms the surface of eastern Pacific Ocean, dumped twice the normal amount of rain in the Sacramento Valley last month. Although rice is grown in water, farmers need dry weather to till and fertilize soil before fields are flooded and seeded by airplane.

The lack of dry weather has many farmers delaying planting rice, meaning they won't finish within the typical late May planting period.

"That means the (last) harvest has to last longer," said Glenn Shimabukuro, director of purchasing at Y. Hata & Co. Ltd. "That should have an impact down the road as well as now."

Shimabukuro said the distributor has experienced two rice price hikes from California mill suppliers this year on 50-pound bags of rice — a 50-cent increase in March and now a $1 increase in recent weeks.

Once rice previously purchased at lower prices is sold, the latest price hike likely will push up the price of a 50-pound bag from about $12 to more than $13 locally within weeks, he said.

The price of a 50-pound bag of rice has swung between $10 and $12 since 2000, when the retail price was between $14 and $15 for most of the year, Shimabukuro said.

It's not clear how the higher prices will affect consumers who buy smaller bags of rice at grocery stores, although it appears the effect may be minimal based on the price increases so far.

But for large-scale purchasers, such as restaurants, the increases take a greater toll.

"On the food-service side, it's considerable because there is so much volume in rice, but little margin," Shimabukuro said.

Passing on the higher prices to consumers isn't easy, said Eddie Flores Jr., president of L&L Drive-Inn, which has 70 locations in Hawai'i, California, Nevada and Washington state.

"That's our biggest item because every plate comes with two scoops of rice," he said. "Any price increase affects the bottom line. It's very difficult to pass the price increase on to consumers so usually we have to eat it up."

California is the leading provider of japonica rice — a short- to medium-grain, sticky white rice often used in sushi and served with many local dishes.

Concern about the size of the once-a-year rice harvest is likely responsible for the spot price of short-grain rice at California mills hitting a 52-week high of $16.38 per 100-pound bag last Friday, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Reach Sean Hao at shao@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8093.