Rice quality at heart of U.S. market share woes in Latin America

Southern U.S. rice farmers were cautioned to focus more on rice quality as the industry seeks to expand market share in Latin America and elsewhere. The caveat to this is understanding the word “quality” from the perspective of customers in Central and South America. Latin American customers don’t want sticky rice, according to Amilcar Ybarra Rojas, president, and CEO of Agricorp S.A., a rice marketer from Nicaragua. Neither do they want chalky rice. Tim Walker, general manager of Horizon Ag, a Memphis-based rice company with deep connections to the U.S. Southern rice industry, said Latin American customers buy rice with their eyes: they look at it for its long grain, consistent grain length, and low chalkiness. Secondly, they don’t want it to clump together when cooked. About 15 years ago the U.S. began to lose market share to South American competitors who were able to meet the higher quality demands of Latin American customers. Walker said the loss in market share does not ...