Maps

What kind of rice

do consumers want?
An assessment of preferences of urban consumers in India and Bangladesh

28%

Socio
economic
eco
o c
class

72%

11%

26%

93%
18%

21%

27%

33%
24%

Bangladesh

100% 7%

0%

23%

27%

1cm

A(upper)

A(upper)

B
C(middle)
(
)

C (middle)
C(middle)
D&E(lower)

29%

EastIndia
16%

Preferencesof
respondentswho
considersize aspriority
trait

27%

bold

Preferencesof
respondents who
respondentswho
considershape as
prioritytrait

medium

12%

longto
extralong

50%

shortmedium

2%

34%

D&E(lower)

Bangladesh

38%
46%

short

longto
extralong

2%
27%

22%

32%

mediumlongto
extralong

6%
38%

70%

slender

Proportionof
respondents who
respondentswho
consideraroma as
prioritytrait

SouthIndia

23%

61%

shortmedium

18%

61%

37%

75%

20%

14%

Consumer
preferences for grain size in different cities in East India
ConsumerpreferencesforgrainsizeindifferentcitiesinEastIndia

Major cities can be

important leverage
points for farmers
if they succeed
in matching grain
quality with
urban consumer
preferences.

Source: IRRI Global Rice Model (2014)

Source: http://faostat3.fao.org/download/O/OA/E

38

Gender

SouthIndia

Consumer preferences for size, shape, and aroma

Consumerpreferencesforsize,shape,andaroma

MARK LENNOX

bout a third of the worlds

rice is produced and
consumed in South Asia.
By 2035, about 194 million
tons1 of rice will be needed to feed
South Asians, about 40% of which
will be consumed in urban areas2.
Income growth, urbanization, and
other socioeconomic transformations
have affected consumption and
preferences for food including rice.
To understand the current rice
preferences and have a basis for
projections of future demand for rice
quality, we interviewed 1,900 rice
consumers in 11 major cities in East
and South India and Bangladesh.
This is part of an on-going
study by the Market Research Team
at the International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI) to understand market
demand for rice quality traits and
characteristics, and to contribute to
the development of product profiles
for a more targeted rice breeding
program at IRRI and its national
partners.
Our preliminary results are
presented here.

Dr. Laborte is a scientist and GIS

specialist in the Social Sciences Division
(SSD). Dr. Demont is a senior economist
and leader of the SSD market and value

EastIndia

Familysize

chain research team, which includes

Ms. Custodio, senior associate scientist;
Ms. Ynion, assistant scientist; and
Mr. Paguirigan, GIS and database
management specialist.

cc

by Marie Claire Custodio,

Neale Paguirigan, Alice Laborte,
Jhoanne Ynion, and Matty Demont

Profile of respondents
Profileofrespondents

Rice Today April-June 2015

13%
29%

71%
Longtoextralong
Medium

80%

Short
21%

Base: respondents
Base:Respondentswho
who
consider size as a
consider
priority
trait.
sizeasaprioritytrait

6%

9%

Calcutta

Dhanbad

n=116

n=67

Rice Today April-June 2015

31%

24%

31%

40%

45%

Patna

Bhubaneshwar

n=92

29%

n=127

71%

Guwahati
n=23

39