The agriculture ministry on Friday started accepting applications from smaller retailers and rice shops to purchase older batches of the government’s stockpiled rice through no-bid contracts after more than 1,000 companies expressed interest.
Smaller retailers that sell between 1,000 and 10,000 metric tons of rice annually, along with rice shops with their own rice millers are eligible to apply for 80,000 tons of rice stockpiled from the 2021 harvest.
Farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi said the ministry will aim to make the rice, which is expected to carry a retail price tag of ¥1,800 ($12.50) per 5-kilogram bag, available throughout the nation.
