ENDURING DEMAND

THE ON-OFF NATURE OF AUSTRALIA’S VOLATILE CLIMATE GIVES AUSTRALIAN FOOD EXPORT GIANT SUNRICE THE TIME AND MOTIVE FOR DIVERSIFICATION. NOW THAT THE DROUGHT HAS BROKEN, CEO ROB GORDON SAYS SUNRICE IS READY TO MEET DEMAND.

- MICHAEL WAYNE

Far out in the New South Wales Riverina region, one of the state’s most bountiful agricultural areas, the town of Leeton is surrounded by some of Australia’s most lucrative farms. From citrus and cotton to wine and walnuts, Leeton’s fertile soil is a multibillion-dollar cradle for exports that feed and clothe people all over the world.

One product above all, however, has become synonymous with Leeton: an inexpensive, versatile and robust grain that’s gluten-free, bursting with fibre, vitamins and antioxidants, and enjoyed daily by more than half of the world’s population. It’s rice, grown in the region by Australian food export juggernaut SunRice and sold around the world under a range of market-leading brands, including SunRice.

The turbulent nature of the Australian climate means that rice must be grown and harvested in very specific ways. Australian rice is grown with around half the water of rice grown in other parts of the world, and even then, severe drought still puts crops at risk. Despite these antipodean challenges, Australia’s rice industry is successful, competitive and resilient – much like SunRice.

Born in 1950 from just one rice mill in the Riverina, SunRice has become one of Australia’s leading exporters of branded food and forms the backbone of the country’s rice industry. Although this success was built purely on the back of Australian-grown rice, today the company sources its rice from 12 different countries to meet the demand of almost 50 nations. But despite its global reach, SunRice maintains its local ties – transport contractor Deniliquin Freighters has carried its product from its Riverina mills to retailers around the country since the 1970s.