Over the past six decades, SunRice has grown from a single rice mill in the Riverina region of New South Wales to become one of the largest rice food companies in the world and a major Australian food exporter.
SunRice manufactures and supplies branded table rice, rice flour, and innovative, nutritious rice food products to consumers all over the world.
The company employs a thousand people in Australia and another thousand internationally, and has operations in the United States, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. More than 80 per cent of its production is exported to over 60 countries, and SunRice estimates that its 2011-12 harvest could feed at least 23 million people around the world every day for a year.
SunRice is continually innovating to meet the changing needs of customers worldwide. For example, a unique variety of rice, Reiziq, has been bred specifically to meet Middle Eastern demand for a larger grain; after identifying this gap in the market, SunRice and the Australian rice industry set about breeding this variety.
In 2011-12, the company re-established markets in the Middle East, shipped 400,000 tonnes of Australian rice offshore, and generated more than $1 billion in revenue for the first time.
SunRice won its first Australian Export Award in 1969, and was awarded the Regional Exporter Award in 2003.
This year’s Australian Export Award judges were impressed with SunRice’s great story of survival and tenacity during decades of drought, commending the company as an excellent case study of how regional Australia’s expertise can take on the world.
The judges also noted that the company has demonstrated solid financials, a clear and effective market strategy, demonstrated jobs growth, new product innovation, and a green focus.
For more information about SunRice, go to: www.sunrice.com.au.