Buying up rice

Costco has no plans to limit the purchases of rice, assuming folks don't expect to fill up their pickup trucks with the stuff. A local VP of operations tells the Register that he has seen some customers "come in to buy large quantities" because of tighter supplies. Some Costco stores in Northern California, however, were limiting supplies, at least according to the NY Sun. Meanwhile, Sam’s Club says it will limit sales of Jasmine, Basmati and long grain white rices to four bags per member visit (how they intend to enforce that limit is unclear). Rice prices in the United States and around the world have more than doubled in the last year, and U.S. rice futures rose to a fresh all-time high Wednesday. Dealbreaker has this take:

Some savvy investors say global food trends--corn being turned into fuel, for instance--are driving up demand for rice. As other grains and carb sources are chewed up by the green revolution, the world may increasingly turn to rice (already the most popular food on the planet). More corn in the gas tank means less rice in the curry.