Rice wastage in Saudi hits $532m
JEDDAH, January 5, 2016
About SR2 billion ($532.5 million) worth of rice is wasted every year in Saudi Arabia, according to a report.
Putting a control on the 700,000 tonnes wastage will help the economy in a big way, said the Arab News report.
About 40 per cent of rice served at banquets, celebrations and social occasion end up in the garbage, it said.
The kingdom is the largest rice consumer in the world with an annual consumption of 1.4 million tonnes, outside East Asian countries.
India's rice exports to the kingdom contribute a total of 68 per cent, said the report.
The rice prices recorded a five per cent increase, which has been attributed to 'unscrupulous merchants, extravegant consumers, monopolisation practices and alluding to a limited number of importers, Nasser Al-Tuwaim, former chairman of the Saudi Consumer Protection Association (CPA) was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, the Bussma youth volunteer group has launched a project to stop abundant food leftovers during social occasions, said the report.
The youths co-ordinate with halls and lounges where a wedding or a social occasion is held, and they collect food leftovers, wrap it in clean plastic containers and then distribute it among the needy, cleaners in particular, it added.
