LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – The International Food and Drink Exhibition (IFE) took place here this week, and for the fourth time in as many years USA Rice exhibited in the U.S. Pavilion. The
IFE is the single most important tradeshow for UK food, drink, and hospitality professionals, and has a legacy of more than 40 years connecting buyers and suppliers across the retail, wholesale, distribution, import/export, and foodservice sectors in the United Kingdom.
“With multiple ethnic groups here, the UK is a very diverse rice market so in response we showcased all different types of U.S. rice,” said Eszter Somogyi, USA Rice director for Europe, Middle East and Africa, who staffed the exhibit. “We conducted meetings with our existing trade contacts here and got to educate interested visitors on the availability of all types of U.S.-grown rice, highlighting the high quality, safety, and sustainable production techniques our industry follows.”
Somogyi said total rice imports to the UK average between 650,000 - 750,000 MT annually, and while about half of the rice market is dominated by India and Pakistan mainly through basmati rice sales, there is an opportunity for growth for a number of U.S. rice types.
U.S. rice sales totaled 18,300 MT in 2024 with a value of $14.8 million representing brown, milled, and parboiled long grain used in the Chinese, Afro-Caribbean, Bangladeshi, and mainstream retail market, as well as medium and short grain sold mostly to the Japanese and Korean market segment.
USA Rice collected trade leads for all types of U.S. rice and will share these with membership for future follow up.