Bloomberg News
Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s Sam's Club warehouse unit is restricting purchases ************SPAM/BANNEAR************ some types ************SPAM/BANNEAR************ rice to four bags a visit as prices reached a record in Chicago futures trading.
The limits on jasmine, basmati and long-grain white rice, a response to "recent supply-and-demand trends," will be put into effect in all U.S. stores where allowed by law and are effective immediately, Sam's Club spokeswoman Kristy Reed said Wednesday in an e-mailed statement.
Some ************SPAM/BANNEAR************ Costco Wholesale Corp.'s stores, including locations in California, also have put limits on sales ************SPAM/BANNEAR************ rice and flour.
Limits on rice purchases will be felt the most in California and Texas, which have large Asian and Mexican populations, whose diets include rice.
Some consumers have started hoarding rice, the food staple for half the world, as prices soar and supplies shrink.
"The warehouse clubs are doing it to protect their business customers, like smaller restaurants, caterers, nursing homes, day-care centers," said food consultant Jim Degen. "The business members are the most important members in warehouse clubs because they generate so much more revenue per member." Degen is a principal ************SPAM/BANNEAR************ J.M. Degen & Co., a food industry marketing consulting firm based in Templeton, Calif.
Rice climbed to a record after a World Bank official said Thailand, the largest exporter, may restrict shipments, worsening a global food crisis.
"If a key exporter like this limits foreign sales, it would be very much like Saudi Arabia reducing oil exports," said James Adams, vice president ************SPAM/BANNEAR************ the bank's East Asia and Pacific department. China, Vietnam, India and Egypt have curbed sales abroad to safeguard domestic supplies and cool inflation.
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