【Q＆A】コメ平均へいきん価格かかく 農水省のうすいしょうが新あらたなデータ公表こうひょう なぜ？

Regarding the average price of rice sold nationwide, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has released new data in addition to what has been previously published.

According to this, the average price of rice for the week up to the 15th of this month was 4,046 yen per 5 kilograms including tax, marking a price drop for the fourth consecutive week.

Ill explain the reason why we decided to release new data.

Q1

The average price of rice at supermarkets nationwide is originally announced every Monday, right?

Why is it necessary to release new data? The average price announced every Monday is compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries using sales data, known as POS, provided by private research companies from about 1,000 stores nationwide.

The approximately 1,000 stores surveyed mainly include local small and medium-sized supermarkets, but in fact, most of the reserve rice sold through discretionary contracts, which began sales at the end of last month, is being sold at major supermarkets and is believed to be largely excluded from this survey.

The data that is released is from two weeks prior, making it difficult for recent price movements to be reflected.

For this reason, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has decided to release new data in order to more accurately show the impact of reserve rice purchased through discretionary contracts on rice prices.

Q2

What are the characteristics of the new data? There are two newly published datasets.

One is the average price of rice calculated by private companies that conduct market research, based on the analysis of sales data called POS from about 6,000 stores nationwide.

The survey includes not only supermarkets but also drugstores and home centers, allowing the average rice price to be determined not just overall, but also by each type of store.

You can also check the average price of rice in each of the nine regions across Japan, such as the Kanto/Greater Tokyo area and the Kinki region.

The data also includes stockpiled rice under discretionary contracts, and it is from one week prior to the publication date.

The second is the average price of rice calculated by another data analysis company based on sales data called POS from about 1,200 supermarkets nationwide.

A distinctive feature is that you can see not only the data from one week before the publication date, but also the data from two days before, for branded rice, blended rice, and stockpiled rice purchased through discretionary contracts.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries plans to publish these two sets of data every Friday.

Q3

When there are multiple price indicators, doesnt it get confusing as to which one you should look at?

Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Koizumi has expressed concern that, despite the start of the sale of stockpiled rice through negotiated contracts at the end of last month, this has hardly been reflected in the average price of rice. He stated that the new data will make the actual situation easier to understand.

And since it will become possible to see the latest price trends by region and by type of rice, they hope people will use this information as a reference when purchasing rice.