TOKYO - The average cost of preparing curry rice at home fell for the first time in two months as lower rice prices offset rising pork costs, while potatoes and onions are also expected to become cheaper.
The decline comes as more than 20,000 food and beverage products are expected to rise in price for a second consecutive year.
The Curry Rice Price Index, calculated from the cost of ingredients and utilities needed to prepare the meal at home, averaged 361 yen per serving in May, according to Teikoku Databank. That was 3 yen lower than in April, while the year-on-year increase was the smallest in the past two years.
Falling rice prices have been a major factor in limiting the overall cost.
Akidai, a supermarket in Tokyo's Nerima Ward, has also seen rice prices decline. On July 14, a five-kilogram bag was priced at 3,200 yen before tax, or 3,456 yen including tax.
"This rice cost 3,980 yen before tax for five kilograms last year, so it has fallen by 780 yen," Akidai President Hiromichi Akiba said. "My impression is that prices have come down considerably."
Rice prices, which had been pushing up the Curry Rice Price Index, have continued to fall. The nationwide average retail price from June 29 through July 5 was 3,458 yen per five kilograms, the lowest level in about 18 months.
Teikoku Databank said lower rice prices are expected to offset increases in vegetable and meat prices caused by typhoons and hot weather, meaning the Curry Rice Price Index is likely to continue declining for the time being.
One shopper said, "I make curry often. It is cheaper than it was for a while, so that helps."
Another said, "When the price of rice, our staple food, settles down a little, it makes me feel more at ease. But compared with before, it is still a little expensive."
Akiba expects pork prices to continue rising because hot weather has slowed the growth of pigs, but said vegetable prices are likely to stabilize.
"Please don't worry. Potatoes and onions in Hokkaido are doing well so far," Akiba said. "Conditions are the best they have been in several years. Potato and onion prices will fall from the second half of August. It will be a little difficult until then, though."
