Export
Price on Request
VIRTUS TRADE exports rice from India and Thailand. The brand of rice exported from India is “MAMA’S CHOICE”, while from Thailand it is SAP. We mainly export Rice to Middle East and Africa. While deciding the brand, Mama’s Choice, we had so many things in our mind, due to many interesting things about rice. One of the keys & interesting things about Rice trade is as follows:
Rice is the seed of the grass species Oryza sativa (Asian rice) or Oryza glaberrima (African rice). Though developing countries are the main players in the world rice trade accounting for 83% of exports, namely India, Thailand, Vietnam, China & the United States. While this are the major players in rice production, Rice as cereal grain is grown in almost all parts of the world including Saudi Arabia. Somehow, China has become a net im-porter surpassing Nigeria & this has really helped the rice economy of Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia etc. in a big way.
But the consumers are very specific about their likings for their own rice variety which was basically served by their devout Mother. No matter how grown up they are and which part of the world they are, they would like to have a morsel of rice, which they relished, prepared by their Mothers. Trade and commerce have also helped to meet those demands.
And in Africa, Trade in general is powered by the women who are very enterprising & hardworking. They are also popularly known as “MAMA”.
Keeping all these aspects in Mind – Asian Rice – African Rice – Mother – Mama all together, the natural name to take shape was – MAMA’S CHOICE. If you watch the pictures closely, you will find all that aspect covered in the image!!!
Today there are so many varieties across the world. Some of them are very native & limited to the territory but some names come up commonly, which has become popular due to the interest & quantum of trade on Global Trade.
Today the process of Parboiled Rice & Steam Rice is gaining momentum. Also, it has some advantage as well. Parboiled means technically “partially boiled”. Boiling rice while still a brown rice grain, causes gelatinisation of the starch in the grains. The grains become less brittle and the colour of the milled grain changes from white to amber. The rice is then dried and then milled. Parboiled rice is nutritionally superior than raw because the process causes nutrients from the outer husk, especially thiamine to move into the endosperm, so that less is subsequently lost when the husk is polished off during milling. The southern India and West Africa are major consumers of parboiled rice. Today a huge cosmopolitan population in the Gulf region has also become a major importer of Parboiled rice.
High demand and low storing space followed by problems of damages caused by natural factors has limited the scope of aging the rice. AS an alternative, Steamed rice is becoming popular and demand is increasing for the same.
One very important variety, rather we can call it as the Royal Rice is BASMATI rice. One cannot imagine Biryani without Basmati Rice. A very popular rice and meat combined preparation from the Mughal era. The connoisseurs of Biryani will vouch for this combination of Basmati Rice – Tender Meat & Exotic spices seasoned in clarified butter.
Basmati rice has a typical pandan like flavour caused by the aroma compound 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline. Basmati grains contain about 0.09 ppm of this varieties, giving basmati its distinctive spicy fragrance and flavour. During cooking the level of 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline decreases. Soaking the rice for 30 minutes be-fore cooking permits 20% shorter cooking time and preserves more of the 2-acetyle-1-pyrroline.
Basmati is a premium priced variety; therefore, unfortunately maximum adulteration also happens in this variety. Difficulty in differentiating genuine basmati from other types of rice and the significant price difference between them as led to fraudulent traders to adulterate basmati rice with cross bred basmati varieties and long grain non-basmati varieties. A 2010 UK test on rice supplied by wholesalers found 4 out of 15 samples had cheaper rice mixed with basmati, while one had no Basmati at all.
Today the most traded hybrid variety of Basmati is – Pusa 1121 (Pusa Basmati – PB1). The parboiled variant is commonly known as 1121 Sella Basmati Rice. Fragrant rice’s that derived from Basmati stock but are not true basmati varieties include PB2 (also called sungandha-2), PB3 and RS-10.
If as an importer, if you are looking for Rice from India or Thailand with a touch of experience and professionalism, please do get in touch with us or write to us, we will be more than happy to serve you. We don’t want to deal rice as a commodity but as a divine food – RICE. We can be good when your choices are very specific, and you want someone who can understand and cater to your specific needs.
Agriculture
Automotives & Motors
Banking and other Financial Services
Beauty & Personal Care
Books, Movies & Music
Business & Industrial
Business Services
Chemicals
Collectibles & Art
Communication Services
Computer Hardware & Software
Construction & Real Estate
Construction and Related Engineering Services
Consumer Electronics
