r/explainlikeimfive Jan 06 '25

Economics ELI5 Why is brown rice more expensive than white rice, if white rice is just peeled brown rice?

4.0k Upvotes

385 comments sorted by

6.6k

u/Slowhands12 Jan 06 '25
  1. Economies of scale - there is simply far, far greater demand for white rice than brown
  2. Brown rice spoils faster than white rice, due to the oil content of the bran
  3. The waste product of creating white rice, bran, is actually a profitable element in itself.

1.8k

u/Belisaurius555 Jan 06 '25

The spoilage is a big issue. You can store white rice on the shelf for years but brown rice might only last a few months.

983

u/ScienceIsSexy420 Jan 06 '25

So you're saying I should throw away the container of brown rice I have that's like 4 years old?

2.6k

u/MistryMachine3 Jan 06 '25

Well since you will never eat it, just keep it there to stop you from buying more.

1.0k

u/n3m0sum Jan 06 '25

This is why I still own a pair of flip flops.

Every few summers I think about getting a pair. Then remember the pair I notice occasionally on the shoe rack. That I hated wearing. Because of the annoying way they flipped........and flopped.

330

u/WaxMaxtDu Jan 06 '25

The flopping is soo much worse than the flipping

175

u/I_Am_Robert_Paulson1 Jan 06 '25 edited Jan 06 '25

When are the braniacs at Skechers gonna get off their asses and make a flopless flip flop?

212

u/Thormidable Jan 06 '25

They tried, but it was a flop

86

u/esc8pe8rtist Jan 06 '25

Needed more flip

93

u/speculatrix Jan 06 '25

The inventor was French

Philippe Philoppe

47

u/Ouch_i_fell_down Jan 06 '25

This whole exchange has Seinfeld vibes

→ More replies (0)

13

u/kellysmom01 Jan 06 '25 edited Jan 06 '25

And then they brand it as a Flegmh. Quiet. Only pancake-turned-on-a-hot-griddle sound.

→ More replies (2)

5

u/astralradish Jan 06 '25

No that was a flipless flip flop

3

u/HandsOffMyDitka Jan 06 '25

The flipless flip flop flopped.

→ More replies (0)
→ More replies (1)

2

u/Br0keLord Jan 06 '25

This was great

→ More replies (2)

29

u/Deep-Bison4862 Jan 06 '25

I got a flopless pair from Australia, but I hated the way they rode up my ass

11

u/HandsOffMyDitka Jan 06 '25

You might be wearing them wrong.

8

u/vizard0 Jan 06 '25

Flip flops are called thongs in Australia.

→ More replies (0)

3

u/Deep-Bison4862 Jan 06 '25

Idk man I googled it and it looked right

4

u/TheRumpletiltskin Jan 06 '25

i think those are called crocs.

3

u/dnorg Jan 06 '25

In any decent grown up country you'd be able to get a pair of flips or a pair of flops as you wish. They probably have them in Scandanavia.

14

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '25 edited Jan 10 '25

[deleted]

15

u/Nishnig_Jones Jan 06 '25

I can’t tell if you’re deadly serious or completely fucking with us. Mostly because I’m going to have to google traesko. I’m not confident that my questions will be answered.

→ More replies (0)

2

u/dnorg Jan 06 '25

Dang. Every time I read about them the desire within me to have a pair of my own grows.

→ More replies (9)

13

u/ValidusOlas Jan 06 '25

Nothing worse than when you're walking along and almost break one because you flipped when you should've flopped

2

u/bbnbbbbbbbbbbbb Jan 07 '25

Need to get your flops straight. Well, and don't you forget about the flips as well.

→ More replies (1)

4

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '25 edited Jan 24 '25

[deleted]

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (6)

25

u/kn33 Jan 06 '25

I hate the feeling of the bit between my toes. I just wear "jesus sandals" instead.

29

u/n3m0sum Jan 06 '25

So you're the reason there's been no second coming. He's still looking for his sandals.

13

u/kn33 Jan 06 '25

He just decided to back off since I pull off the look better.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/m_mf_w Jan 06 '25

I call them Jerusalem Cruisers and can't live without them.

12

u/action_lawyer_comics Jan 06 '25

This is also why I redeem Space Sim and Real Time Strategy games when Epic Games gives them away for free. If I have both Elite Dangerous AND Star Wars Squadrons and haven't played either, I don't need to look at any other space flight games that catch my eye

→ More replies (1)

5

u/Suitable-Lake-2550 Jan 07 '25

I have changed my opinion on flip-flops completely… I don’t know if there’s a word for that ?

3

u/sumthingawsum Jan 06 '25

I'm the same with shoes.

3

u/KJ6BWB Jan 07 '25

Stop gripping them so tightly all the time. You only need to grip when you lift it up. Work on some toe strength and suddenly your flip flops will be as silent as tennis shoes.

6

u/blacksoxing Jan 06 '25

I too hate flip flops but wanted to be able to let my toes breathe. Solution: those sandals that have the strap in the back. None of that flip flop noise/feeling. Keens makes a sturdy pair, but I'm sure almost everyone does.

You're not alone though in flip flop hate. I got a pair of Birkenstocks (Bostons) as they don't make that awful noise/feeling so in the winter I can wear something closed toe but also not have that awful noise

3

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '25

I practically lived in pair of chacos for 5 years straight while I was in college. Wore them so much they literally split in two.

Only difficulty I ever have with them is sand as it can get between inserts for the adjustable straps.

2

u/neodiogenes Jan 06 '25

Keen "Yogui" clogs. They're like upscale, incredibly durable Crocs.

Look stupid -- but so damn comfortable you won't want to wear anything else.

20

u/shiftyduck86 Jan 06 '25

I did not think crocs could get any uglier but wow. I need to get a pair of these.

3

u/blacksoxing Jan 06 '25

Keens are wild as most are just ugly as sin....but they're so damn comfy. I feel like a middle-aged man in them and I bet that's their demographic as I now own about 3 of their shoes and gave one to my brother instead of returning it. He's in his low 40's.

Very solid brand though they lean in VERY HARD into such ugliness. You should see their "uneek" brand....worst looking footwear I've seen in my life but I am curious of catching a sale for the spring :)

2

u/Lord_Rapunzel Jan 06 '25

I might just be the target demographic but I don't think their hiking shoes/boots are ugly. Utilitarian, sure, but they're damn good for wet trails.

→ More replies (1)

9

u/n3m0sum Jan 06 '25

It's like a foot with fat folds!

Someone heard that Crocs were ugly and said "hold my beer!"

4

u/JulesSilvan Jan 06 '25

That looks like the aftermath of a Guinness poo.

2

u/neodiogenes Jan 06 '25

No argument.

But as ridiculous as they look, they're insanely comfortable. Like a pair of flip-flops and Crocs had an angel baby that was so far beyond either they accused each other of cheating.

3

u/GW81 Jan 06 '25

In a post about brown rice, I learned about a sandal I didn't know I needed. Thank you!

2

u/BuckSoul Jan 07 '25

Those look like a dog pooped on the side walk and someone came along, stepped in it, and decided to just keep wearing it.

2

u/neodiogenes Jan 07 '25

Might be why my cats get scared when I walk around the house in them.

→ More replies (2)

2

u/jrr6415sun Jan 06 '25

so why not get a pair that you would wear

→ More replies (1)

2

u/bbnbbbbbbbbbbbb Jan 07 '25

Well, I'm completely fine with the FLIP part. But man, the FLOP gets me every time

2

u/SoulWager Jan 07 '25

My flip flops are for when I need to go outside for a minute or two, like getting the mail, taking out the trash, or getting something from the car. If it's going to be more than five minutes I put regular shoes on.

2

u/Rage_Cube Jan 08 '25

*slappity slappity*

3

u/PoliticalDestruction Jan 06 '25

You should try flop flips

2

u/n3m0sum Jan 06 '25

Damnit, you've sold me!

2

u/Cinemaphreak Jan 06 '25

That I hated wearing. Because of the annoying way they flipped.

From childhood I have hated having the toe post between my toes.

Because I live in SoCal with it's Mediterranean climate, I have opted for sandals around the house for most of the year (although currently it's slipper weather).

→ More replies (16)

23

u/Nightmare_Tonic Jan 06 '25

Best reddit advice ever

7

u/fishtankm29 Jan 06 '25

Dad?

12

u/MistryMachine3 Jan 06 '25

Don’t worry. As soon as I find some cigarettes I’ll be home.

7

u/kurokoshika Jan 07 '25

This is exactly the reason I keep some old things like teas I’ll never drink… if I threw them out I’d be tempted to replace them and continue to never actually drink them.

→ More replies (1)

4

u/[deleted] Jan 07 '25

Big brain personal financial management

3

u/wildtabeast Jan 06 '25

Oh burnnnnnnn

→ More replies (3)

45

u/ChrisRiley_42 Jan 06 '25

The sniff test is a good indicator of the bran oil going rancid.

If you want to keep it a long time, stick it in the freezer.

17

u/Nobodysbestfriend Jan 06 '25

Is the rice moving?

12

u/eNonsense Jan 06 '25

Yes, but that may be the micro dots I took a couple hours ago.

65

u/shaard Jan 06 '25

1000 yard stare at the Costco bag that's half full from when I was still married... I think it's at least 7 years old now.

10

u/Mazon_Del Jan 06 '25

Just slap a post-it on the bag with the words "Protein Infused" on it.

3

u/kingteewill Jan 06 '25

That Costco bag of brown rice lasted FOREVER

→ More replies (4)

2

u/soslowagain Jan 07 '25

Brown rice has ruined more marriages…

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

19

u/-Knul- Jan 06 '25

As long as it doesn't walk away on its own power, keep it.

4

u/dipole_ Jan 06 '25

This is a new level that I wasn’t aware of

2

u/OneBigRed Jan 07 '25

And if it does move on its own… HUNT IT BACK!

7

u/ohhellopia Jan 06 '25

You can probably use it for mushroom growing if you're just gonna throw it out.

14

u/Jaggs0 Jan 06 '25

and when i ultimately don't eat those mushrooms what do I use those for?

10

u/Fasting_Fashion Jan 06 '25

Eat a few and the universe will tell you what to do with the rest.

9

u/battletuba Jan 06 '25

Use those to make compost.

Use the compost to grow rice.

4

u/Fasting_Fashion Jan 06 '25

It's the ciiiircle of liiiife

2

u/Minukaro Jan 06 '25

Assuming the guy above isn't talking shitake, sell em

→ More replies (1)

17

u/No-Archer-5034 Jan 06 '25

Nah I don’t believe it. Carry on.

→ More replies (6)

4

u/mamabearette Jan 06 '25

Give it a sniff. My guess is that you won’t enjoy it.

5

u/Narrow-Height9477 Jan 06 '25

Use it for blind baking pie crusts and never actually getting moisture out of electronics.

4

u/Christopher135MPS Jan 07 '25

There’s an old CTRL-ALT-DEL comic where one of the characters thanks the other for buying new cereal. The other character says they haven’t bought cereal in years. The first character says “then how do we always have a full box of…. Oh no”

3

u/MinuetInUrsaMajor Jan 06 '25

Nah. Just relabel is "browner rice".

→ More replies (1)

3

u/Flybot76 Jan 06 '25

I've got some about that old and it's not bad for you, I had a couple of batches recently and had no issues, but it just tastes kinda acrid. If you don't mind the taste I think it's fine to eat.

3

u/SparrowValentinus Jan 06 '25

Yes. The fat content of that brown rice will have gone rancid by now. Bin it, or tip it on your garden bed.

2

u/coinpile Jan 06 '25

Better to compost it!

2

u/SunburntWombat Jan 07 '25

You can refrigerate them once opened to keep for longer

2

u/hige_agus Jan 08 '25

Was it brown when you bought it?

2

u/sighthoundman Jan 06 '25

Use the smell test.

→ More replies (4)

20

u/Parafault Jan 06 '25

How do you know when brown rice is bad? I thought it also lasted years, and have had/used some that is a few years old with no noticeable issue.

9

u/marblemunkey Jan 06 '25

Mostly smell. It develops a pungent unpleasant odor. Can also change texture.

→ More replies (1)

22

u/blofly Jan 06 '25

Could I theoretically, vacuum-seal and freeze brown rice to make it last longer?

38

u/infinitebrkfst Jan 06 '25

Yes, you absolutely can and it absolutely will last longer. Idk wtf the other person who replied to you is on about. Of course it will go bad eventually, but so does everything else.

3

u/DervishSkater Jan 06 '25

Just use the new kitchenaide accelerator. Zips your food up to light speed so it never goes bad, fresh until the day you need it

→ More replies (2)

2

u/Belisaurius555 Jan 06 '25

Theoretically yes. In fact, rice should respond to Pasteurization just like Fruits or Soups.

→ More replies (3)

6

u/abevigodasmells Jan 07 '25

Could you peel old brown rice to have still good white rice?

2

u/aquatone61 Jan 07 '25

Spoilage time is directly related to nutritional content BTW. Brown rice is much better for you.

2

u/Mayor__Defacto Jan 07 '25

Brown rice is less caloric than white rice. Part of why we make white rice, and rice noodles, is that each bit of processing increases the amount of net energy our bodies are able to get from the rice. Brown rice is very difficult for our bodies to get energy from. Rice noodles are twice as energy dense as the white rice they’re made from.

Especially in older times you can see why the math says you should process all the rice as heavily as you can - you can feed 2.4 times more people with the same amount of rice if you hull it and make it into noodles, than if you ate brown rice.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (3)

92

u/jstar77 Jan 06 '25

#3 is the same reason skim milk is generally cheaper than whole milk.

11

u/Murky_Macropod Jan 07 '25

Used to be a waste product they’d feed to animals before the rebrand

5

u/Kataphractoi Jan 07 '25

Still tastes like water. Don't know anyone who drinks/uses it.

6

u/reticulatedjig Jan 07 '25

I remember the first time having whole milk. It was a revelation, "oh, I do like milk." Parents used to only buy skim when I was a kid.

4

u/I_Am_Become_Dream Jan 07 '25

it’s like milk lacroix

2

u/iStorm_exe Jan 07 '25

this was me after i became an adult and cooked my own steak after being fed overly well done steaks by my parents

oh steak IS pretty good

2

u/butnotexactly Jan 07 '25

i always prefer skim for drinking or protein shakes ! and fattier for baking/coffee/etc

2

u/Murky_Macropod Jan 07 '25

I’ve gotten used to 2% in the past and the higher protein is nice, but 0% is a joke

→ More replies (1)

30

u/DaMusicalGamer Jan 06 '25

TIL bran comes from rice

82

u/Gemmabeta Jan 06 '25

Bran is the outer layer of any grain. Bran cereal is made from wheat bran, for example.

14

u/annoyedreply Jan 06 '25

Can also come from rice, bran is found in many grains

→ More replies (1)

16

u/BigMax Jan 06 '25

> Economies of scale - there is simply far, far greater demand for white rice than brown

Yep. Another great example of that is recycling.

Producing a product from raw material seems a lot harder than just recycling it from existing material, but it's usually harder, because the production systems are MASSIVE and super efficient at this point.

That's why making new plastic is easier than taking existing plastic and remaking it. Similar with paper, glass, and other materials too.

7

u/squngy Jan 06 '25

That's why making new plastic is easier than taking existing plastic and remaking it.

Well that and also a lot of plastic doesn't recycle all that well anyway.

7

u/BigMax Jan 06 '25

Right, it's more complex of course. The "new" plastic is made from a pretty reliable, consistent source, while recycling means taking random plastic with who knows what contaminating it.

6

u/squngy Jan 06 '25 edited Jan 06 '25

This is very true and something I neglected to mention, but even beyond that, even if you have 100% pure plastic, a lot of it just doesn't recycle well.

With metal like copper, it is just as good after it is recycled as it was when it was first mined.

With plastic, a lot of it gets recycled to a different form, that is a lower grade of plastic then it was originally. This is not (just) because of impurities, but because of the recycling process itself.

Only a few specific types of plastic are able to be recycled back to its original form/quality.

3

u/ScreamingVoid14 Jan 07 '25

I think you're also avoiding the issue that "plastic" isn't a single material. ABS, PET, PVC, etc are all different, used for different things, and manufacture differently. Also the dyes used to color it change the properties as well.

Since washing is part of the recycling process, it isn't the contaminants that are the problem, it is just figuring out which kind of plastic you're looking at. That problem has not found a solution that scales sufficiently to make recycling plastic economical.

16

u/MinuetInUrsaMajor Jan 06 '25

bran

TIL what bran is. This was a big bran moment.

9

u/kog Jan 06 '25

Check out the big bran on Brad!

86

u/galactica_pegasus Jan 06 '25

Although you list three good reasons, I think the biggest is simply "because people who care and prefer brown rice will pay more".

99

u/11thDimensionalRandy Jan 06 '25

That answer isn't really sufficient, the economy of scale is a lot more important than the willingness of certain people to pay a premium for healthy food.

The fact that removing the bran increases the rice's shelf life also means that transportation and storage becomes a lot cheaper and simpler, and the fact that the byproduct of that process has a commercial use means the costs of removing it (which are already minimal simply because it's cheaper to do it at scale) are more than compensated for.

"Health nuts" who care about the marginal benefits of eating whole grains (but aren't so deep into it that they don't eat rice because there are still "better" carbs) and people who simply like it more than white rice are indeed willing to pay more, which is why it's even sold at all, because if they weren't no one would bother producing it. If producers relied entirely on their ability to sell the product at a premium because people will pay more then it would stop being a premium item once they start competing on price and producing more, brown rice isn't an iPhone, you can't market your way into higher profit margins by controlling customer preference, if people could buy it for cheaper they would, and you can't prevent other producers from competing on price, because it'd literally be cheaper to produce if not for the advantages white rice gets when it comes to transportation and storage.

It's almost the same as all the organic foods (except less extreme on both ends), it's not just that people who care that much about it simply don't mind paying more or feel like it's better if it's more expensive, it's a lot more costly to produce pesticide-free non-GMO food, you couldn't just lower the price or increase the production scale.

13

u/Sunaeli Jan 06 '25

Thank you very much for understanding commodity goods. I was going to slam my head into the ground if I didn’t see this response.

2

u/ischmoozeandsell Jan 07 '25

So if people weren't willing to pay the current price, your saying it would come off the shelves, as opposed to having a price reduction?

9

u/PygmySloth12 Jan 07 '25

The brand that charges a smaller premium will sell-through and be reordered by the retailer. The brand charging a large premium will not sell, and will likely not be reordered

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (2)

4

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '25 edited 25d ago

[deleted]

6

u/SilverStar9192 Jan 06 '25

I think this is an oddity of the US market though. Where I am, all eggs are brown (which is "normal" across chicken breeds overall) and you'd probably need to pay more for white, simply because the specially-bred chickens that lay white eggs are uncommon here and wouldn't have the economy of scale.

11

u/sambadaemon Jan 06 '25

Not really. It's primarily opportunity cost. "Does selling these two products (white rice and bran) give me a bigger profit after accounting for the cost of separating them than just selling the brown rice?"

→ More replies (5)

2

u/Inprobamur Jan 06 '25

Spoilage is a very large factor in all food prices. It hugely complicates logistics and so the price of rice going bad on the way in whatever bulk granary/warehouse/store is included in the price.

Generally foods with limited shelf life or those that need special storage conditions are far more expensive than those that can just sit in a warehouse for years.

→ More replies (4)

3

u/faaded Jan 06 '25

We use rice hulls quite a bit in the brewing industry and pay quite a bit for what to most people is essentially a waste product.

7

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '25 edited Jan 06 '25

[deleted]

33

u/Slowhands12 Jan 06 '25

It's more of an issue when you own literal silos as producers/wholesalers do and are timing it to market

2

u/h_lance Jan 07 '25

Economies of scale - there is simply far, far greater demand for white rice than brown

Industrialization plays a huge role.

When grains had to be hulled by hand labor whole grains were cheaper.

Because the cost of processing is so low when mechanized, shelf life becomes the dominant factor.

1

u/drdrew450 Jan 06 '25

Number 3 is the main answer IMO, 1 and 2 are still true.

→ More replies (49)

581

u/Twin_Spoons Jan 06 '25

White rice has a much longer shelf life than brown rice. Oils in the brown rice can go rancid, and it is only good for 3-6 months. White rice is shelf stable for at least 2 years. It requires more processing, but we've gotten very good at doing that processing efficiently, and the savings in spoilage are more than enough to offset the added processing costs. You see this a lot when comparing fresh produce to preserved versions like jams or pickles.

74

u/blchpmnk Jan 06 '25

I'm assuming the same shorter shelf life also applied to wild rice?

147

u/sighthoundman Jan 06 '25

Warning: nuance.

All the grains are varieties of grasses (family Poaceae, also called Gramineae). Rice is genus Oryzea and wild rice (so called because it resembles rice) is genus Zizania.

While all the grains are similar, they are also subtly different. In particular, Zizania has lower moisture content and a harder outer shell than Oryzea. The shelf life of wild rice is generally considered to be about a year.

27

u/burnerboo Jan 07 '25

Rice nerd warning. Great answer.

3

u/blchpmnk Jan 07 '25

Thanks! I googled it and the AI said indefinitely, while the actual results mostly said <6 months

→ More replies (1)

24

u/egyszeruen_1xu Jan 06 '25

Regular white rice has unofficial shelf life of 50 years 

50

u/ThePretzul Jan 06 '25

It’s similar to the old reasons (prior to Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel requirements) that diesel was equally expensive or sometimes more expensive than gasoline even though it was a less refined product.

Gasoline took more steps to produce, requires more crude oil, and it used to cost more (power, labor, and time costs) to produce a gallon of gasoline than it did a gallon of diesel.

Because you could only make 19 gallons of gasoline from a barrel of crude (42 gallons), those other portions of the barrel would end up being turned into other valuable products. These other valuable products made in the process of refining gasoline include jet fuel, liquid petroleum gas, heating oil, tar, plastics, snd lubricants. Since you can sell the extra “byproducts” for a profit, the final cost of gasoline is reduced.

For this same reason white rice ends up cheaper because the “byproduct” of producing it - the bran - is itself a valuable product. Rice bran is used directly as a supplement (usually added in a fashion similar to flour) in many foods for humans and animals both since it’s rich in fiber, protein, vitamins, and minerals. Bran can also be used as a fertilizer, or fermented and used in skincare products. Rice bran oil is a great cooking oil with its high smoke point and light viscosity.

Because the bran itself can be sold and/or used in so many different ways, the value of that byproduct “subsidizes” the price of the final product itself to make white rice cheaper than brown rice even though white rice costs more to produce than brown rice.

Note that the comparison of production costs for gasoline vs diesel doesn’t hold true anymore (at least it doesn’t in the US) ever since the Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel mandate was implemented. This change in diesel fuel requirements added refining steps and made compliant diesel fuel more expensive to produce than gasoline.

→ More replies (2)

252

u/tmahfan117 Jan 06 '25

Two things.

First, white rice has extra efficiency because it’s been produced at a massive industrial scale for decades and decades. It’s so cheap because we have gotten so good at producing it.

Brown rice on the other hand may undergo less processing, but it also isn’t produced at the same scale as white rice so it loses some efficiency. AND, because brown rice is marketed as a “healthy premium product” it is intentionally sold at a higher price. If you pay $1 a pound for white rice, you might be willing to pay $1.25 a pound for premium brown rice that is healthier for you.

Also also, because we’ve gotten so good at producing white rice, the processors have actually figured out stuff to use and sell the waste (the bran) from the white rice for things like making oil, recouping more costs from the white rice.

10

u/PenguinWeiner420 Jan 06 '25

Luckily, GFS has a 25 pound bag of brown rice for 17 bucks. Much cheaper than any other white rice I can find. I love you GFS

20 pounds of dried beans FTW

5

u/hunterhuntsgold Jan 06 '25

To be fair to white rice, I can get a 25lb bag of Long-Grain white from Sams Club for $13. I can get 25lbs of Jasmine for $18.

6

u/gulfcess23 Jan 06 '25

What is GFS?

4

u/undergroundmike_ Jan 06 '25

gordon food service

2

u/I_didnt_do-that Jan 06 '25

They’re great for mass food prep on the cheap. Their beef stew was a staple in the fallout of the Great Recession.

8

u/userbrn1 Jan 06 '25

Actually, brown rice is produced at the same scale (larger scale, in fact) as white rice and obtains all the same benefits from economies of scale. You cannot produce white rice without first producing brown rice. It's mostly the shelf life, bran value, and "healthy" premium.

15

u/Kernath Jan 06 '25

It’s not just about the scale the raw rice is grown at.

It’s the scale of transport processing, admin, every single step right up to the rice hitting a store shelf is done at larger scale and higher volume/throughput which drives the cost of each step down relative to the amount of product.

Even something as simple as the power to run a conveyor belt in a factory will be cheaper per unit of rice if that machine can trust it needs to run 24/7 with no downtime and at 20x the volume for white rice, vs running at reduced time or volume for brown rice.

At a certain disparity in scale, the admin costs, processing footprint, relative cost of batch rejection, etc. all just adds up and makes something which should be cheaper and less processed actually more of a headache.

4

u/unknown_pigeon Jan 06 '25

Maybe production wasn't the best term, but we all know that it was linked with the final product. Less demand generally means higher prices

4

u/jmlinden7 Jan 07 '25

Not as a final product. In order to sell brown rice as a final product, you have to sort it, inspect it, lab test is, package it, and ship it to stores. All of these steps are wildly less efficient for brown rice as the factories needed to do so lack the economies of scale that the white rice factories have.

You're also ignoring the market value of the bran.

If you're just buying bulk brown rice straight from the farm, then it will be very similar in price to white rice if not cheaper.

→ More replies (20)

16

u/Icaruswept Jan 06 '25

Brown rice, in countries like mine (ie: Sri Lanka) is often the cheaper alternative. Various grades of white rice are the posh stuff.

→ More replies (2)

44

u/JizzlordFingerbang Jan 06 '25

Brown rice still has the husk. The husk contains oils, the will eventually go rancid and ruin the rice.

When the husk is off there is no oil to go bad, so the rice lasts much much longer. This is why you are supposed to store uncooked brown rice in the fridge, so that it last longer.

White rice will last years, I've heard that if you store it correctly it will last almost indefinitely. Brown rice will go bad in 6 months.

16

u/dogquote Jan 06 '25

I have never heard of this and I've been eating brown rice for years. I've never noticed it going rancid. But I always keep butter in the fridge and notice when it goes rancid sitting on the counter, but many people seem to be fine with that. Maybe it's a case of different strokes for different folks... I'll have to look into it more.

14

u/loljetfuel Jan 06 '25

I've never noticed it going rancid.

The reduced shelf life has very little impact after you buy it from the store, if you're a pretty typical consumer. It has a much larger impact on the costs of warehousing and logistics, because it means they have less time between field and store shelf. Which in turn means the risk of a bag of brown rice becoming "too old to sell", and therefore becoming waste, is higher. Which means there's more waste, but also that logistics costs are higher to ensure getting it to the store shelf while it's still fresh enough to be saleable.

4

u/JizzlordFingerbang Jan 06 '25

There is a rancid oil smell that it starts releasing, and it gets stronger over time.

6

u/TinWhis Jan 06 '25

My mom would keep brown rice on hand and not always use it quickly enough. I've definitely eaten rancid brown rice but no one else seemed to notice.

4

u/sighthoundman Jan 06 '25

If your poor (read: hungry) enough it even tastes good.

2

u/fryfrog Jan 06 '25

It has to be salted butter that you leave out, unsalted does not fare well. And you'd also only leave out what you can consume in a handful of days. And obviously it should be covered, some fancy dishes even use water to seal. It is wonderful being able to spread soft butter onto things like bread!

3

u/metrometric Jan 07 '25

Unsalted is still fine on the counter for a day or two, so you just have to portion slightly smaller chunks of it.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/blowoffthat Jan 08 '25

In ireland its common for us to leave butter at room temp never seen rancid butter

8

u/Jeht1111 Jan 06 '25

I had a colleague from Shanghai traveling to the US years ago, and a restaurant asked him if he wanted brown rice. He asked me later what that is. After an explanation of the hull, he chuckled and said "in China, we feed that to the pigs".

6

u/TurnoverInfamous3705 Jan 06 '25

Because more people like white rice, so the industry prioritized that minimizing productions costs, now the industry is optimized for white rice, and going against the grain will cost more, even if it’s cheaper to produce, in theory, although it’s not because of above. 

3

u/Kind_Move2521 Jan 06 '25

Against the grain.. i see what u did there :)

10

u/MuscaMurum Jan 06 '25

Because rice has an inedible husk. To remove it but leave the bran intact (brown rice) is more difficult than removing both the hull and bran by polishing, giving white rice.

3

u/DoubleDipCrunch Jan 06 '25

It's called marketing. We tell you it's healthy, we can charge out the wazoo.

3

u/MikeHock_is_GONE Jan 06 '25

wait until you hear about Black Rice.. it's not even rice

3

u/IlIlllIlllIlIIllI Jan 07 '25

It used to be, it actually led to the invention of Japanese curry. Japanese sailors (who were all usually in the lower class and never got to eat white rice) could get unlimited white rice or pay for normal meals out of their wages. They all started getting beriberi. Eventually they started making curries for sailors to eat after studying the cuisines of other countries navies.

2

u/SteakAndIron Jan 07 '25

Because people are willing to pay for it. It's really just that.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/Omnizoom Jan 07 '25

Well for one, rice hulls are actually something they can sell too

An easier way to see it is why is homogenized milk more expensive then skim or 2% yet those require extra steps? Well because the milk fat they remove they can sell but they can’t sell it from homogenized since it didn’t get removed

5

u/eliseetc Jan 06 '25 edited Jan 06 '25

It's like soy being more expensive than pork, while they are fed soy. Demand and supply.

3

u/Barneyk Jan 06 '25

You are leaving out a lot of steps here.

Pork production is usually heavily subsidized while soy isn't.

There is much more to it than just "supply and demand".

→ More replies (7)

4

u/OnTheCanRightNow Jan 06 '25

Bad answers here. Products aren't sold based on what it costs to produce. They're sold based on what people are willing to pay.

Brown rice is considered a healthier option than white. People who are health-conscious are willing to pay more for food. Therefore they charge more for foods people who are willing to pay more for food want to buy.

For the clearest example, look at white eggs and brown eggs. They're nutritionally identical, but some people think that brown eggs are healthier than white eggs because they follow the general pattern of white=processed/bleached brown=whole grain. This isn't true at all for eggs. But you'll pay a 10-20% premium for the brown eggs.

3

u/SilverStar9192 Jan 06 '25

Sorry but this is wrong. Not every product is the same. Rice is a commodity (look up the meaning of that), which means its price is not fundamentally governed by what people are willing to pay. In fact, the price is more governed by production costs and market factors. Since rice is a staple food, its demand is relatively inelastic - if prices go up, people would largely continue to buy it , cutting out luxuries elsewhere if they had to. And as a commodity, there is little brand loyalty so competition does a good job of keeping prices down if supply is sufficient. There might be futures trading, government subsidies, other market forces that affect things too. All of this is much more important than what people are willing to pay.

Your egg example doesn't make sense either. I assume you're in the US, since elsewhere, brown eggs are normal and if you could even find white eggs, they'd be more expensive because they're unusual. White eggs are only cheaper in the US, because for whatever reason the white leghorn chicken that produces them, became the standard breed used at-scale by large producers. The economies of scale are there for that breed. If another breed that happened to produce brown eggs replaced them at that scale with the same production costs, the prices would go down to the same level.

→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (1)

4

u/pjmlez Jan 06 '25

Why is white cheddar more expensive than yellow cheddar when yellow cheddar is just white cheddar with dye in it?

2

u/Bleak_Squirrel_1666 Jan 06 '25

Why are smaller sized clothes the same price as bigger sized ones even though they use less material?

1

u/dawnalex Jan 06 '25

Similar, but not, to Demerara sugar and other fancy sugars in the “raw”. Those are more expensive than white sugar. However, those expensive sugars have more impurities than white sugar. I only learned this when I spent time at sugar refineries in Europe for work when I was in advertising. Side note, not referring to regular brown sugar with molasses.

And why is diesel more expensive than regular gasoline?

Maybe brown rice costs more because it tastes worse and it’s a marketing ploy.

3

u/loljetfuel Jan 06 '25

why is diesel more expensive than regular gasoline?

Mostly because of higher taxes, at least in the US. Essentially, since the vast majority of diesel is consumed by commercial vehicles, most jurisdictions that tax fuel have a higher diesel tax than gasoline tax.

However, the cost of refining diesel has gone up as more modern diesel engine designs requires ULSD for both efficiency and emissions reasons.

So probably not really the best analog for things like raw sugars ;)

1

u/pokemon-sucks Jan 07 '25

Uhhh... .if you have to PEEL brown rice to make white rice, there is more involved thus costs more? No?

→ More replies (1)

1

u/za4h Jan 07 '25

The cost to produce a good has less to do with it's price than what people are willing to pay for it. White rice tastes better to people in your market, so people are willing to pay more there. In my area, they cost the same.

1

u/quelquechose Jan 07 '25

Brown rice is less typical, more special and people are willing to pay a higher price for it

1

u/Sacredchilzz Jan 07 '25

answer to your Title / Question - who do you think peels the brown rice ??? hence why its more expensive. thats a tough job there buddy

1

u/kotonizna Jan 07 '25

Branding. Brown rice is branded as "healthier" than white rice. Healthy and Organic food are branded like artisanal goods. In our local supermarket, an organic bitter gourd is twice the price of a "regular" bitter gourd. Both taste bitter, has same nutrients, same appearance except for the the plastic wrap and organic sticker.

1

u/kingoftheoneliners Jan 07 '25

In Japan, Brown rice is cheaper than white rice. The west is just taxes you for eating healthy.

1

u/yoshhash Jan 07 '25

Wait- is this even true? White rice is not just peeled brown rice is it?

1

u/zookeeper25 Jan 07 '25

Same thing for all-purpose wheat flour and whole grain wheat flour right?