New moves to promote sticky rice

     Foreign Trade Department director-general Apiradi Tantraporn said the government will cooperate with modern traders to set up fairs to increase sticky rice consumption. The fairs will introduce more than 100 menu items cooked with sticky rice and will be launched at Siam Paragon, The Mall, Tesco, Central, and Big C.

     The Thai Restaurants Association will also insert more sticky rice dishes into their menu to serve travellers.

Thai Rice Packers Association president Somroek Tangpiroonthum suggested the government increase exports for consumption to other potential markets like Japan.

Japan has a high demand for sticky rice. For instance, Mochi, a Japanese rice cake, is made of glutinous rice and sake, he said.

The guaranteed price for sticky rice has dropped to Bt8,000 per tonne. The price peaked at Bt19,000 last year. The export price has also dropped continuously this month by US$20 (Bt642) per tonne from $819 early May to $779 on May 21.

Thailand produces 6 million tonnes of sticky rice a year with 5.5 million tonnes for domestic consumption.