"Rice flour" attracts attention due to soaring prices: Different points of attraction by age

First, let's look use Dockpit to look at the traits of people searching for the keyword "rice flour."

The number of people searching “rice flour” exhibits a gently rising trend, but a particularly sharp increase in the number of searches occurred around March 2022. This was around when there were announcements of price increases for various daily necessities and foods. Wheat is first imported from overseas by the government before deciding on the price and being sold to domestic Japanese manufacturers, and it was announced that the price will be increased. In response, major bread makers, such as Yamazaki Bread, the food service industry, and flour milling companies that sell wheat flour for home use announced price increases, suggesting that people starting turning their attention to rice flour as an alternative for wheat flour.

The number of searches continued to rise in October 2022 and April 2023. October 2022 was when it was announced that flour milling companies would keep wheat flour prices the same until spring, and April 2023 was when another price increase on wheat flour was announced. Every time there is talk of a wheat flour price increase, it is clear that more and more people are considering rice flour as an alternative to wheat.

This may be a reason behind the growing popularity of rice flour. "Cookpad's Food Trend Predictions 2023" introduces five ingredients and foods as "the next big food trends!" and “rice flour" is one of them.

"Trends" are not just booming or popular products. It is also something that occurs when people are feeling anxious about changes happening in the world, as was the case with rice flour.

In the "Survey on rice flour and rice flour foods" conducted by MyVoice Communications, Inc., when respondents were asked about their impressions of rice flour, the most-common answer was "it is tasty" followed by 30% of people answering it is "good for health."

With dietary substitutes, many people tend to think that something needs to be given up purely for the cheaper alternative, such as taste or flavor and texture. However, rice flour has many advantages over wheat flour, such that "it is tasty," it is "good for [your] health," and it has a "doughy texture."

The advantage of it being "good for health" seems to have contributed to its recent popularity. Rice flour absorbs less oil than wheat flour, making it crispy and healthy when used for cooking. Furthermore, rice flour can be eaten by people who are allergic to wheat flour and those who prefer gluten-free products, winning the approval of many health-conscious consumers, which is why the reasons for its popularity goes beyond just simply being a “wheat flour alternative.”

If rice flour has attracted attention for its "healthy" nature, how about “oatmeal”? Similar to rice flour, oatmeal is good for diet and health and can be used in place of wheat flour in various dishes. A quick look at Dockpit reveals that the number of people searching "oatmeal" is on a downward trend, indicating that the trend is slowing.

A search for rice flour recipes on the recipe website Cookpad yields 35,403 hits (as of June 16, 2023), compared to 12,967 oatmeal recipes (as of June 16, 2023). Oatmeal is an ingredient that has been booming for a while, but it may be inferior to rice flour in terms of versatility. Oatmeal has a unique texture and shape, but rice flour is easy to use because of its powder form where its texture is more adaptable to different recipes.

If you look at the search keywords that include "rice flour," you can see that many people are searching for it with other keywords like "recipe," "pancake," "cookies," and "okonomiyaki," looking up recipes generally made with wheat flour. One of the appeals of rice flour may be that it has a variety of uses and can be added to anything from sweets to the main dish.

Let's take a further look at who is searching "rice flour." We took the data from the most recent year and looked at more recent trends.

Rice flour goes well with various ingredients such as "sweet potato," "banana," "pumpkin," "tofu," etc. Furthermore, it can be used for baby food and steamed bread and recipes for a wide range of ages. It can be used to cook with “no butter” and using a “rice cooker” and “frying pan,” allowing a wide variety of cooking methods. Rice flour is easy to use, which makes it so attractive. Words like "quick" and "easy" are also frequently searched.

Next, let's check the user attributes of people searching "rice flour."

While gender is skewed toward female, for age groups, it seems to be concentrated in the middle, with people searching neither being young nor old. Let's zoom in for a closer look.

The words "substitute" and "diet" are prominent among younger respondents. It is clear that many are considering using rice flour as a substitute for wheat flour to save money or to lose weight. On the other hand, older respondents appear to be considering using it to make "madeleines," "banana cake," and other sweets. In addition, it seems that they are searching for the brand name of rice flour, "Mizuho Chikara." Mizuho Chikara is a variety of rice developed for making rice flour and is particularly suitable for baking bread. It is apparent that the older generation is not interested in just any rice flour and is more concerned about its quality.

In this research, we looked into "rice flour." Although the popularity of rice flour may have been due to the soaring price of wheat flour, we hypothesized that its versatility and positive impact on health may have prompted many people to want to use it and keep it on hand. Furthermore, we found that the points of interest differ depending on the age of the consumers. It is suggested that marketers keep this in mind for the sales promotion method when selling the product.

▼Data from Dockpit was used in this case study. Dockpit is an online behavior analytics tool provided by VALUES, Inc., and it allows you to access online behavioral data (updated monthly) via your browser so you can research competitor websites and investigate trends. There is a FREE version of Dockpit, so if you are interested in using it, please register below.