why is white rice cheaper than brown rice if it’s the processed form of latter?
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They’re generally about the same price if you control for the type and brand.
For instance:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mahatma-Rice-100-Whole-Grain-Brown-Rice-2-lb-Bag/10848957
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mahatma-Enriched-Extra-Long-Grain-White-Rice-2-lb-Bag/14940615
All else being equal, you’d expect white rice to be more expensive, but I suspect because it’s a higher volume item, there’s some economy of scale that makes up the difference.
If you were five, I would mention in addition to the other responses, that the cost of production sometimes is not a factor in the price that you sell it for. The price you can sell something for is closely related to the price that someone is willing to spend on it. This is not only always true, and somewhat over simplified. A luxury car that sells for 3x the average car price does not mean it costs 3x to produce.
Health Food premium. I’m old enough to remember when brown rice cost less than white rice. In fact many grains that were once considered “poor people food” now sell for a premium at places like Whole Foods.
People are willing to pay more for brown rice, so the distributors/retailers charge accordingly.
Everyone is over complicating this.
One word.. Marketing
Brown rice is “healthier” which encouraged supermarkets to move the price up
Price is rarely based on cost. In terms of price all cost tells you is the minimum you can charge without losing money. Brown rice costs more because white rice is seen as the default and brown as a “healthy alternative product” so sellers can price it as if it is a higher quality product.
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