TOKYO: More and more people in Japan have started baking to enjoy their time at home during the coronavirus pandemic, leading to shortages of flour products at store shelves.

The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry is urging people not to panic, saying there is a sufficient amount of wheat in stock.

The number of searches for sweets has surged on the recipe website kurashiru since the Japanese government declared a nationwide COVID-19 state of emergency in mid-April.

People think making bread and sweets at home helps family members interact with each other and make themselves feel like they are at cafes.

"I guess people started to entertain themselves with food after getting tired of exercising self-restraint," an official at the website operator said.

At Tomiz, a Tokyo-based operator of baking tool and ingredient stores, demand for strong flour, butter and dry yeast started rising in late March.

The company saw its sales of a set of domestic flour products grow by nearly five times from a year before. On April 21, the company started limiting the number of order receipts, citing concerns over possible delays in deliveries.

Demand for wheat for home use started increasing in March and then strong flour and pancake mix became in short supply mainly at retailers in central Tokyo, according to the agriculture ministry.

Mercari Inc., an online flea market app operator, saw listings of flour products start increasing in late April when their shortages became more severe. The company said it will delete products that are priced extremely high.

A ministry official stressed that there is nothing to worry about the country's wheat stockpile. "It's just that supply has temporarily been unable to keep up with a sudden surge in demand," the official said.

JIJI Press