Riceland Foods and Riviana Foods Inc. announce expansion at Jonesboro facility

Riceland Foods and Riviana Foods Inc. will spend millions of dollars to expand into the rice/flour extrusion process market, Riceland Foods Inc. Vice President for Governmental Affairs Kevin McGilton told Talk Business & Politics. The exact cost of the expansion wasn’t released, but it will create up to 10 new jobs and should be completed in 6 to 8 months, he said.

The expansion will be a part of the Rivland partnership the two companies have been part of for decades.

“This investment is another effort to move our family-farmer’s rice higher up the value added food chain,” Riceland Foods President and CEO Danny Kennedy said. “Extruded food products can be found in many segments of today’s nutrition marketplace and this project puts our rice in this high value market.”

The Rivland partnership has existed since the early 1990s. It involves broken rice being ground down into a flour that can be used for industrial and commercial purposes, McGilton said. The partnership produces rice flour for rice-based noodles, nutrition bars, breakfast cereals and other products. Riviana President and CEO Bastiaan G. de Zeeuw offered comment on the agreement Monday.

“Our Rivland partnership has been very successful and we are excited about this new opportunity to manufacture and sell extruded rice products in the United States,” he said. “We currently produce and market extruded rice products in Europe and with this expertise, we can jump-start the project through which we will better serve our customers and expand our portfolio of high quality rice products.”

The extrusion process will require Riceland to remove a wall at its facility in Jonesboro. Specialty equipment will have to be ordered and it could take several months to get the equipment installed.

The extrusion process is an extension of the processes already used by Rivland. Rice is ground into flour and then through a combination of pressure and steam it is turned into a slur, McGilton said. The slur is placed on a plate or form and it dries. Noodles, and many other products can be made using this process. In recent years, the gluten-free market has exploded and rice is gluten-free, meaning it is a viable option for those with autoimmune diseases that require a gluten-free diet.

Arkansas is the top rice producing state in the U.S. and is home to Stuttgart-based Riceland Foods, one of the biggest rice marketers in America. The company was established in 1921 and has more than 5,000 farmer/partner members.

Riviana Foods is the largest processor, marketer, and distributor of branded and private label rice products in the U.S., and is North America’s second largest pasta manufacturer. The company is headquartered in Houston, Texas. It is a subsidiary of Ebro Foods.