The historic surge in rice prices in Japan has led retailers to seek alternatives, using less expensive ingredients like barley and noodles in bento meal boxes to curb prices and retain customers.

Some retailers are expanding the sale of lower-priced foreign rice.

In March, convenience store chain Lawson started selling the "Okazudon!" series of bento products, which contain less rice but more spaghetti and side dishes in order to reduce costs while securing volume.

Due to the soaring rice prices, "the process from product development to sales has become more than twice as difficult as last year," President Sadanobu Takemasu has said.

Natural Lawson stores, targeting health-conscious consumers, began to mix mochimugi chewy barley into rice for all chilled bento products, replacing a blend of rice and minor grains previously used in the products.

Barley is less expensive than rice and is good for adding volume. The company is considering using mochimugi also in products sold at regular Lawson stores.

Among supermarket chains, Seiyu last November began to sell Taiwanese rice for ¥2,797 per 5 kilogram. The price has risen to ¥3,229 because of higher procurement costs, but the product is still lower-priced than general domestic rice.

The Taiwanese rice "sells out as soon as it appears on the shelves, and some stores suffer continued shortages," an official said.

In April, Aeon began selling the Nisui no Takumi brand of rice, a blend of 80% U.S.-grown produce and 20% domestic produce. The price is ¥3,002 per 4 kg.

The blend tastes "as good as domestic rice," a shopper said.