By Ken Y-N ( December 21, 2010 at 00:35)
· Filed under Lifestyle, Polls
Advertisement
Rice has the image as the main staple of the Japanese dining table, so this recent survey from goo Research looked at rice and eating habits to find out the truth behind the stereotype.
Demographic
Between the 15th and 18th of November 2010 1,295 members of the goo Research monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.1% of the sample were female, 16.4% in their teens, 16.8% in their twenties, 16.3% in their thirties, 16.8% in their forties, 16.8% in their fifties, and 16.8% aged sixty or older.
We buy all our rice these days over the internet, and usually a different brand or region every time; we’re currently on Shiga rice of a brand whose name I couldn’t read. We sometimes pick up brown rice or brown rice blends, which makes a change from sometimes quite bland white rice.
However, if you think Japanese rice is bland, may I suggest getting a new rice cooker? We recently replaced our old one which cooked everything into a glutenous mulch, but now with the new one each grain remains distinct and much more pleasent on my tastebuds. I still miss Basmati, however…
What do you think of Japanese rice?
Rsearch results
Q1: Which staple do you usually eat at breakfast, lunch or dinner? (Sample size=1,295)
| |
Breakfast |
Lunch |
Dinner |
| Rice |
38.3% |
62.3% |
88.2% |
| Bread |
45.8% |
11.0% |
0.6% |
| Pasta, noodles |
0.7% |
23.4% |
3.8% |
| None of the above |
6.6% |
2.2% |
6.9% |
| Don’t eat at all |
8.6% |
1.2% |
0.5% |
Q2: About how much rice do you eat at one sitting on average? (Sample size=1,295)
| 75 grams or less |
8.4% |
| 150 grams or so |
70.3% |
| 300 grams or so |
18.8% |
| 450 grams or more |
2.5% |
Not surprisingly, men ate more rice than women; barely 10% of women managed more than 150 grams, yet around a third of men did.
Q3: Compared to a year ago, how has the number of times you have eaten rice changed? (Sample size=1,295)
| Increased considerably (to SQ1) |
5.8% |
| Increased a little (to SQ1) |
10.3% |
| Not changed |
71.5% |
| Decreased a little (to SQ2) |
9.8% |
| Decreased considerably (to SQ2) |
2.5% |
Just over a quarter of teenaged girls has decreased their rice consumption frequency, yet almost 30% of those in their thirties has increased it. I suspect there must have been a number of rice diets and no rice diets published!
Q3SQ1: Why has your rice consumption frequency increased? (Sample size=209, multiple answer, top ten)
| |
All |
Male
N=80 |
Female
N=129 |
| Been eating at home more |
45.5% |
47.5% |
44.2% |
| Been eating out less |
30.6% |
30.0% |
31.0% |
| Became aware of the tastiness of rice |
19.6% |
21.3% |
18.6% |
| Been eating more Japanese-centric meals |
18.7% |
10.0% |
24.0% |
| Been considering health, nutritional balance |
17.7% |
15.0% |
19.4% |
| Started cooking for myself |
14.8% |
12.5% |
16.3% |
| To save money |
14.4% |
15.0% |
14.0% |
| Family make-up has changed |
12.9% |
5.0% |
17.8% |
| Became more interested in food |
9.6% |
13.8% |
7.0% |
| Became aware of food safety issues |
6.2% |
7.5% |
5.4% |
Q3SQ2: Why has your rice consumption frequency decreased? (Sample size=160, multiple answer, top ten)
| |
All |
Male
N=68 |
Female
N=92 |
| For diet |
30.6% |
25.0% |
34.8% |
| Been eating at home less |
16.9% |
19.1% |
15.2% |
| Became aware of the tastiness of bread, pasta, etc |
14.4% |
11.8% |
16.3% |
| Been eating out more |
13.8% |
14.7% |
13.0% |
| Other |
13.1% |
13.2% |
13.0% |
| Cooking rice has become too much trouble |
9.4% |
8.8% |
9.8% |
| Been eating less Japanese meals |
9.4% |
8.8% |
9.8% |
| Been considering health, nutritional balance |
9.4% |
10.3% |
8.7% |
| Family make-up has changed |
8.8% |
4.4% |
12.0% |
| Been ordering home delivery food more |
7.5% |
5.9% |
8.7% |
Q4: What is your most favourite type of rice? (Sample size=1,295)
| White rice |
65.5% |
| Brown rice, other grains mixed in |
11.4% |
| Mixed with other ingredients |
23.1% |
White rice was more popular with older people, and mixed grains more popular with women by about two to one.
Q5: What is your most favourite strain of rice? (Sample size=1,295)
| Rank |
Strain |
Percentage |
| 1 |
Koshi hikari |
28.1% |
| 2 |
Akita komachi |
7.9% |
| 3 |
Hitomebore |
2.5% |
| 4 |
Milky queen |
1.7% |
| 5 |
Hino hikari |
1.6% |
| |
No particular preferences |
47.0% |
Q6: What is your most favourite rice-growing prefecture? (Sample size=1,295)
| Rank |
Prefecture |
Percentage |
| 1 |
Niigata |
15.2% |
| 2 |
Akita |
5.6% |
| 3 |
Hokkaido |
3.1% |
| 4 |
Miyagi |
1.7% |
| 5 |
Yamagata |
1.6% |
| |
No particular preferences |
50.4% |
Q7: How often have you bought the following over the internet in the last year? (Sample size=1,295, multiple answer)
| |
5 or more times |
2 to 4 times |
Once |
None, but bought before |
Never |
| Rice |
4.3% |
5.1% |
3.5% |
3.8% |
83.3% |
| Bread |
2.3% |
2.1% |
1.2% |
4.6% |
89.8% |
| Chocolate, cake, etc |
2.8% |
8.9% |
8.0% |
13.9% |
66.4% |
| Other foodstuff (water, wine, beer, etc) |
6.6% |
8.3% |
6.6% |
11.7% |
66.8% |
| Fish, shellfish, processed fish products |
4.2% |
9.0% |
7.0% |
11.0% |
68.9% |
| Meat, processed meat products |
4.2% |
4.6% |
4.2% |
8.8% |
78.2% |
| Fresh vegetables, fruit |
3.7% |
4.9% |
3.1% |
7.2% |
81.2% |
Q7SQ: What are the merits of buying rice over the internet? (Sample size=1,295, multiple answer)
| |
Have bought rice
N=216 |
Not bought rice
N=1,079 |
| Don’t need to transport a heavy load |
67.1% |
60.9% |
| Cheap |
44.0% |
40.4% |
| Can get internet shopping points |
30.1% |
33.2% |
| Can buy whenever I need to |
20.8% |
22.2% |
| Easy to understand with comments from and photograph of grower |
14.4% |
13.1% |
| Can learn particular features of rice (nutritional information, recipes, etc) |
14.4% |
10.8% |
| Good freshness |
10.2% |
11.2% |
| Can buy in bulk |
7.9% |
8.0% |
| Other |
8.3% |
1.5% |
| Nothing in particular |
– |
16.9% |
Read more on: goo research,
rice
Permalink
Subscribe to feed