SunRice is the consumer brand and trading name of Ricegrowers Limited, which is one of

Australia's Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by a ...

largest branded food exporters. In the 2017 financial year, SunRice recorded revenue of A$1.1 billion and profit of A$34.2 million. The SunRice Group comprises 11 businesses and over 30 brands, and employs over 2,200 staff in Australia, the Pacific,

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. Australian

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

production is based in regional southern

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. The company's main office is located in Leeton (with a corporate office also in Sydney), and it has rice mills in Leeton,

Deniliquin Deniliquin () is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, close to the border with Victoria. It is the largest town in the Edward River Council local government area. Deniliquin is located at the intersection of the Riverina ...

, and Coleambally. SunRice also operates stockfeed plants in Leeton, Tongala and Cobden. In 2014, SunRice expanded to North Queensland with the purchase of the rice mill in

Brandon Brandon may refer to: Names and people *Brandon (given name), a male given name *Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins Places Australia *Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales *Brandon, Q ...

, having recognised the region as an opportunity to grow specialty rice varieties to complement its existing supply of rice from the

Riverina The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation ...

region in

History

SunRice began with the establishment of a single rice mill in the

in 1950. Today, SunRice has operations across Australia,

, the Pacific, the

and the

Products

SunRice manufactures more than 700 products - from table rice and rice flour, snacks and rice meals, to companion animal and livestock products Around 80% of the Australian crop is exported as branded product in an average year to key markets including

, the Pacific and the

. During the 2017 financial year, the Company experienced significant market share growth in the domestic Australian snack foods sector due to increasing sales of microwave rice meals. To complement its Australian operations to ensure reliability of supply in low crop years, while enabling

growers to focus on premium varieties that provide higher farm-gate returns, SunRice is establishing sustainable and secure global sourcing and supply chains. In 2016/17, SunRice sourced 320,000 paddy tonnes from

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

and has opened a representative office in the country.

Business units and brands

CopRice

CopRice has been supplying animal feed for over 30 years through its plants in Leeton, Tongala and Cobden. The CopRice business was originally established in response to the availability of rice by-products, such as rice pollard: a feed which is high in energy and protein. Rice now represents only one of the many ingredients used by CopRice. CopRice also operates a pet food business.

Riviana Foods

Riviana Foods is a gourmet food distribution, sales and marketing company owned by SunRice. It has the largest share of olives and pickled vegetables in the retail channel in Australia. In its grocery business, important brands include Always Fresh, Felhbergs, Admiral, Captain, Riviana and Mahatma. Riviana Foods also has a strong presence in the food service sector and an extensive portfolio of brands including Riviana, Menu Master, Garden Supreme and Ocean Supreme.

Trukai Industries

Trukai is a rice product packaging, distribution, sales and marketing company that is two-thirds owned by SunRice, with the remaining interest held by the people of

(PNG) through the Pacific Balanced Fund. Registered in 1970 by SunRice, Trukai has a number of well-established brands including Trukai and Roots Rice. Trukai's head office and processing base is located in Lae, with a marketing office in

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

and distribution facilities located throughout

. Trukai employs over 1,000 people throughout the country.

SolRice

Solrice, located in the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...

, is a distribution, sales and marketing company wholly owned by SunRice.

SunFoods

SunFoods is a rice milling, distribution and marketing company that was established in 2008 and now owned by SunRice. SunFoods is the owner of the Hinode brand, which was created by the California-based Rice Growers Association in the 1930s. The Hinode brand is very strong in medium-grain rice markets throughout the US, and is stocked in retail outlets including

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

, WinCo Foods Stores and Kruger. SunFoods’ head office and milling base is located in Woodlands, California.

AGS

SunRice's wholly owned subsidiary AGS owns and operates Riverina-based grain storage infrastructure with capacity exceeding 1 million tonnes.

RRAPL

Rice Research Australia Pty Ltd (RRAPL), a wholly owned subsidiary of SunRice, undertakes rice varietal and agronomic research and development in partnership with the

NSW Department of Primary Industries The New South Wales Department of Primary Industries (DPI) is an agency of the New South Wales Government, responsible for the administration and development for agriculture, fisheries, aquaculture, forestry, and biosecurity in New South Wales. ...

and the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC). RRAPL operates a leased farm in the

for its activities.

Corporate activity

In July 2014, SunRice announced the acquisition of the rice milling assets of the Blue Ribbon Rice Group. The assets, located in North Queensland's

Burdekin The Shire of Burdekin is a local government area located in North Queensland, Australia in the Dry Tropics region. The district is located between Townsville and Bowen in the delta of the Burdekin River. It covers an area of , and has existe ...

region, include property, plant and equipment. SunRice is committed to building a sustainable Queensland rice industry, investing significantly to improve the quality of locally grown rice and manufacturing productivity at the Brandon Mill. Key developments have seen a weighbridge installed to enable growers to directly deliver paddy to the mill. A new software system is also being investigated to improve the management of incoming and outgoing rice stocks. SunRice has also expanded the rice storage capacity at the Brandon Mill, with the purchase of 40 hectares of land adjacent to the Mill, where new storage facilities have been built to supplement the Mill's recently commissioned grain drying equipment. The new facility includes 18 new paddy drying silos with 4,000 tonne capacity to complement the Mill's existing 1,500 tonnes of storage. SunRice and RRAPL, in conjunction with the Federal Government, Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) and other private and state-based organisations and universities, are progressing preparations for rolling out the program of activity for the Government's $4 million Rural R&D for Profit grant announced last year to support the North Queensland rice industry.

References

{{reflist Privately held companies of Australia Food and drink companies established in 1950 Rice organizations Riverina Agriculture companies of Australia Australian companies established in 1950 Companies based in New South Wales