Stock-European-Rice
Much of the European rice is produced in Greece, with the country accounting for 220,000 tons annually. Image Credit: Supplied

Dubai: An EU-funded program, European Rice made a splash at the Gulfood 2023 in Dubai, offering new varieties and showcasing some of the technological advances in growing them.

Greece produces approximately 220.000 tons of rice and most of it is cultivated at the northern part of the country. e Greece is among the four most productive European countries for rice.

“Gulfood is a huge opportunity for us to showcase our innovative range of products and we aspire to be a household name for consumers searching for flavours of Europe,” said Mr Konstantinos Giannopoulos, General Manager of EASTH, the union of co-operatives in charge for the European Rice program.

European rice is rich in B-complex vitamins, such as Niacin, Thiamine, Riboflavin and Selenium, while the carbohydrates contained in its endosperm constitute an important source of energy for the human organism.

“While this platform will help us showcase European Rice to a larger audience, it also serves as a stepping stone to understand the consumer and the market in the GCC at a granular level,” said Christos Tsichitas, President of EASTH.

The European rice market is sub-divided in two segments, namely, ‘Indica’, which is a long grain variety and represents around 25 per cent of EU rice production, and ‘Japonica’, a short and medium grain variety that is the most popular in those markets.