By Janet Poveromo
W?hat’s new and notable in the rice category, according to Grant Lundberg, CEO of Lundberg Family Farms (Richvale, CA), is that brown rice, a healthy 100 percent whole grain food, gained its rightful place in the whole grains universe in May 2008, when the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agreed to allow it to bear the whole grain health claim. Brown rice has become certified as heart healthy, has become a WIC approved food and is approved for many diets, such as low glycemic and gluten free.
TJ Song, president with Minsley, Inc. (Ontario, CA), makers of fully cooked organic rice bowls, agreed, noting that organic brown rice (long grain, medium grain, short grain) that offers whole grain benefits, including fiber, has gained popularity. “Sprouted brown rice (short grain) is another one that people really like due to its health benefit.”
The publicity of these health claims no doubt helped boost sales over the past year. In the combined natural and conventional channels, 100 percent organic rice sales jumped to $12.6 million, an increase of almost 20 percent in the 52-week period ending October 4, 2008, according to SPINS, a market research and consulting firm for the natural products industry. Sales of 95-99 percent organic rice increased just under 11 percent, SPINS reported.
Favorite Varieties
Other than brown, Lundberg said, black japonica has also grown in popularity for the company because of its beauty, flavor and versatility in cooking, and the company’s organic basmati and jasmine rices are also doing well.
Kathy Weir, who works in sales and marketing with Texas Best Organics (China, TX), said her company’s jasmine variety has come in as “more popular than anything else. Our new product, Southern Delight, is a very fragrant rice that has a superb taste all on its own with nothing added. It tastes unbelievable all by itself. We sell four different varieties and those are the top sellers.” In other company news, Weir noted, Texas Best Organics recently entered grocery stores: the products are now being sold in Whole Foods Markets and H-E-B, a Texas retailer.
Making it Easy
Lundberg noted that as people’s lifestyles become more hectic, there is a need to find healthy foods that are convenient and quick. So, Lundberg is introducing Organic Heat and Eat Brown Rice Bowls. “It is nutritious, organic brown rice in a bowl that is quick, convenient and delicious. A win-win!” Lundberg said. “The convenience is remarkable as it is precooked and only needs to be reheated. From our internal tests and tests with our consumers, we expect that this will be a successful product.”
With its Go-Go rice bowls, convenience is Minsley’s specialty, but Song noted that taste doesn’t take a backseat to expedience. “Most Americans know the benefit of rice, but they often do not know how to cook it properly to get the best taste and texture,” Song said. “There have been cooked rice products mostly in pouches, which do not offer the quality that consumers expect. Those products are selling but consumers remain unsatisfied.”
However, selling convenience products is not necessarily the path that all organic rice manufacturers want to go down. Weir said Texas Best, which sells bulk items to wholesalers, considered producing rice bowls, but determined the investment would be too big and wouldn’t be cost effective. “We need to get the products from start to finish and get that on the shelves first. It makes more sense since we just started our retail side.”
“We also looked at doing some wild rice mixes but we decided to stay where we are and do the best we can with what we have,” Weir explained.
Beyond Organic
Lundberg products have been grown, harvested and manufactured for over 70 years in a sustainable way by three generations of the Lundberg family, noted Grant Lundberg. The company has been organic and sustainable long before these trends became mainstream. “Our large product line of rice products, including pasta, chips, rice cakes and risottos, has so much to offer the consumer in terms of selection. Lundberg rice eaters are healthy eaters. When we bring our products to market we expect our consumer is buying food to be healthy. It’s important to us that our products are on their shopping list.
“From our seed selections, to our cultivation and manufacturing practices, to the recipes and many uses for Lundberg Rice in cooking, our products adhere to not only our internal guidelines, but to many third party certifications of quality as well,” Lundberg said.
At Texas Best, “Our No. 1 claim is that from field to plate we are 100 percent organic,” said Weir. “Our whole operation is—from farm to mill to packaging. We do not process conventional so there is no contamination—there is no co-mingling with conventional products. We have our own packaging plant so we control the product.”
Weir explained that the company’s president Cecil Slack and family had been farming organic rice for years and decided to do their own processing so they could deliver the end product. “That way [the company] could also control the organic quality of the product by building and running [its] own organic rice mill,” Weir said.
At Minsley, “We are the only company that supplies organic cooked rice,” noted Song, stressing that the products have superior taste with a natural flavor and texture at very competitive prices. “When it comes to cooking brown rice, you have to spend at least two hours to get the right chewiness. Nobody wants to do that.”
The Price of Rice
This past year, severe droughts have created global rice shortages and countries that buy rice on the global market have been vulnerable to extreme price swings.
“We do have a low price compared to our competitors,” Weir said. “Beyond that we’ve seen an increase in rice prices from March through April and rice was scarce. Rice was a hot commodity but we’ve kept our prices as steady as possible. Prices have definitely increased as have many other food items, but that has gone along with the economy.”
Hurricane Ike, by far the most costly hurricane for the US in 2008, battered farms in Texas, exacerbating the situation. “That’s been big here on a personal level with employees and with crops,” Weir added. “But we’re okay and the farmers pulled together and helped each other.”
Bill Ayzin, owner of Wealth of Health, a retail store in Idaho Falls, ID, said as far as prices, “We don’t pay much attention as far as fluctuations. We look for line drive discounts and show discounts that we pass along to the consumer. We ask brokers for coupons and use them to help the customer. We go by distributor invoices. If a customer needs organic rice, they’re not going to walk away if the price goes up by a quarter or 50 cents.” The top sellers in his store are Lundberg’s 2-lb. bags of different varieties such as brown and white, long and short, Ayzin added.
State of the Market
There are a variety of reasons manufacturers are predicting strong consumer demand for organic rice.
“People are interested in buying gluten free products and we get a lot of calls about Celiac disease,” Weir said. “We are seeing growth every year. From wholesalers to retailers, it’s a very positive outlook for organic rice. Being 100 percent organic makes it even more special because people are getting more health conscious. If the price range of organic rice is the same as conventional, chances are consumers will buy the 100 percent organic,” Weir added.
“Yes, the market is growing. It’s been growing quickly thanks mainly to the convenience factor like heat-and-eat and shelf-stable,” Song agreed. “There will definitely be many product offerings to come. Rice consumption in the USA is about 26 pounds per capita per year. About 60 percent of it goes directly into cooking. It’s a huge market yet to be capitalized on.” Minsley plans rice bowls with rich sauces, meats and vegetables to “offer a complete and healthy meal solution in seconds,” Song said.
Lundberg added that the category has been dynamic with new ideas and uses through product innovation. “We see a lot of new items entering the rice categories. The focus on gluten free and the new rice health claim is helping this become an exciting category. With the growth trends in whole grains, gluten free, organic and eco-friendly foods we find the rice category growing each year.”
Lundberg Family Farms expects its Heat and Eat Rice in a bowl to be a very successful product. “We are reintroducing our brown rice pasta with a new package look and a new pasta shape—the elbow,” Lundberg said.
For retail merchandising support, Lundberg offers recipe ideas on product packages as well as take-away recipe brochures and tear pads at the store shelf and displays. All of the products direct the consumers to the company website for more recipe ideas. “Lundberg Family Farms has an excellent website that is updated constantly with consumer information,” Lundberg added. “A visit to the site offers everything from a store locater, to recipes, to organic farming philosophy. It has been designed to introduce, re-acquaint and update our new and current consumer about our business and our products.”
Weir said that Texas Best Organics still feels a need to continue educating consumers on the issue of natural versus organic. “Nine out of 10 people still don’t know the difference and that has been a big thing for us to teach people. The company includes that kind of information on its packaging and website. We’ve got plans in the works with graphics people and distributors to expand education even more. Customers go to our website all the time and we get lots of emails. There’s a lot of interest.”
Green Business
To add more kudos to the category, Lundberg Family Farms has recently been recognized as one of America’s Top Small Workplaces. The company was also recognized as a California Fit Business, and by the EPA Green Power Partnership for its green energy power purchases. “After 71 years in business,” Lundberg said, “the company continues to follow sustainable and organic business practices, amidst the challenges of the economy, world rice shortages and global uncertainty.” OPR
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