Meet our member: Rice Exchange

1. Tell us about your company. When and why did you decide to join SRP?

From the beginning Rice Exchange was excited to be part of the sustainable rice movement. We are acutely aware of the need for rice to be grown in a sustainable way so that it can continue to feed billions of people around the world. We know that buyers want confidence that rice labeled SRP-Verified is the genuine product – our blockchain-enabled platform with its immutable audit trail gives buyers the certainty they require.  

2. Tell us about the specific reasons, trends & developments or challenges and opportunities you are trying to solve / seize by joining SRP (or how you solved them).

Having successfully connected buyers and sellers of rice from over 45 countries we are now focusing on meeting the demand for SRP-Verified rice that exists on the Rice Exchange trading platform.

3. Tell us about the process and activities implementing SRP in your organization.

We love telling the SRP story to buyers on the platform and this has generated a lot of interest. Control Union, an approved SRP Verification Body, is fully integrated with Rice Exchange. So, when a buyer requests the Verification Statement issued to a SRP supplier, Control Union can upload it onto the platform as part of the bundle of trade documents.  

4. Tell us about the future. What is your company’s vision and ambition for the sustainable development of the rice industry and how could SRP be instrumental to achieve this ambition? 

We hope to incentivize suppliers on Rice Exchange to adopt sustainable rice growing practices by informing them about the growing market for sustainable rice. On another front we are reducing losses in the rice trade from wet damage during seaborne transportation by lining containers with Kraft paper and adding dry bags. Buyers who wish to access top-class insurance cover on the platform must follow the Rice Exchange moisture prevention programme which is overseen by the inspection companies that are integrated onto the platform (Control Union, Cotecna, Intertek and ISC).  

5. Any recommendations why more companies and industry actors should consider joining SRP?

We urge rice farmers to adopt the SRP Standard as it is clearly the way forward. There is growing consumer awareness of sustainable rice and more SRP-Verified rice is required to meet this demand. 

6. Your quote, or vision for 2025?

By 2025 we hope to be the main marketplace for the international trade of SRP-Verified rice.

Frank Gouverne will also be one of the speakers at SRP’s upcoming webinar “How to meet the growing global demand for sustainable rice?” on 5 April 2022. Click here for more details.