If you’ve ever cooked in a Puerto Rican kitchen, you know the rice question is already settled. It’s medium grain. Arroz con gandules, arroz blanco with habichuelas, asopao, arroz con pollo, the crispy pegao at the bottom of the caldero. Medium grain rice in Puerto Rico isn’t one option among many, it’s the default, and shoppers notice straight away if the rice in the bag isn’t what they expect.
We’re a rice mill and exporter based in Thailand. Along with our Thai rice, we supply Calrose and Calrose-style medium grain rice in bulk and private label to importers, distributors, supermarkets and food service companies worldwide. This page is for buyers who want to bring medium grain rice in Puerto Rico onto their shelves or into their kitchens: what we sell, the specs, packing, shipping and what to watch for with paperwork.
Table of Contents
Why Puerto Rico Eats Medium Grain
Most of the Spanish speaking Caribbean leans towards long grain. Puerto Rico is different. Medium grain rice in Puerto Rico became the standard decades ago, partly because so much of the island’s rice came from California, where medium grain is the main crop.
Cooks got used to how it behaves. Medium grain is plump and a little moist when cooked. The grains cling together slightly but don’t turn to paste. It soaks up sofrito, sazón and the fat from the pork or chicken. And it makes a proper pegao, that golden crust at the bottom of the pot that people fight over at the table.
If you want the bigger picture of island food, Wikipedia’s page on Puerto Rican cuisine gives a good overview.
The Dishes That Sell the Rice
If you’re stocking medium grain rice in Puerto Rico, these are the dishes your customers are cooking.
Arroz con gandules
The holiday dish. Rice cooked with pigeon peas, sofrito, olives, alcaparrado and pork. Christmas without it isn’t Christmas.
Arroz blanco y habichuelas
Plain white rice with stewed beans, the everyday plate. The rice needs to be tender and slightly sticky.
Arroz con pollo
Chicken and rice cooked together, yellow with achiote or sazón.
Asopao
A soupy rice stew, closer to a thick soup. Medium grain gives it body without falling apart.
Arroz con dulce
The coconut and spice rice pudding made at Christmas. Medium or short grain is what cooks reach for.
Pegao
Not a dish on its own, but every cook judges a rice by how well it crisps at the bottom of a caldero.
All of this keeps demand for medium grain rice in Puerto Rico steady through the year, with a big jump from Thanksgiving through Three Kings Day in January.
What We Sell
We supply medium grain rice in Puerto Rico and other markets in a few forms. The main ones for this market are:
- Calrose and medium grain rice: plump, translucent grains that cook soft and slightly sticky. This is the product most buyers of medium grain rice in Puerto Rico want.
- Sushi rice: short grain Japonica, for buyers who also supply sushi restaurants and Asian groceries.
- Thai white rice 5% broken: long grain, for shops that also carry a long grain line.
- Thai jasmine rice: the fragrant rice shelf, which is growing on the island too.
We confirm the origin of medium grain on each quotation, since we source it to the buyer’s spec and market. See our full range on the products page.
Medium Grain Specifications
These are the specs we contract on for medium grain rice in Puerto Rico. They match what island buyers expect from a good bag.
| Specification | Premium grade | Standard grade |
|---|---|---|
| Grain type | Medium grain, plump, translucent | Medium grain |
| Purity | 95% min | 95% min |
| Broken grains | 4% max | 7% max |
| Moisture | 14% max | 14% max |
| Chalky grains | Limited to grade | Limited to grade |
| Foreign matter | 0.5% max | 0.5% max |
| Crop | Current season | Current season |
| Origin | Confirmed on quotation | Confirmed on quotation |
Grain shape matters. Medium grain is roughly two to three times as long as it is wide, noticeably shorter and plumper than long grain. If a sample looks long and thin, it isn’t what a Puerto Rican shopper means by grano mediano.
Every lot of medium grain rice in Puerto Rico orders is checked before packing. Our quality control page explains the process, and you’re welcome to send an independent inspector.
How It Cooks
This is where medium grain rice in Puerto Rico earns its place. Most cooks use about one and a half cups of water to one cup of rice, sometimes a little less for arroz con gandules because the sofrito and peas add moisture. Rice goes into the hot caldero with the oil and seasoning, gets a quick stir, then the water goes in.
Once the water drops below the rice, the cook stirs once, covers, and lowers the heat. About 20 minutes later the rice is tender, slightly sticky, and the bottom has started to crisp into pegao. Long grain cooked the same way comes out drier and more separate, which is fine in Cuba or the Dominican Republic but isn’t what most Puerto Rican families want.
We’ve written more about this in our comparison of medium grain vs long grain rice for Latin dishes.
Who Buys Medium Grain for Puerto Rico
Importers and distributors
They bring rice into San Juan and supply supermarkets, colmados, restaurants and institutions across the island.
Supermarket chains
They want medium grain in 2 lb, 3 lb, 5 lb and 10 lb bags, often under their own label, with Spanish and English on the pack.
Restaurants and fondas
They buy 20 lb and 50 lb sacks. Consistency is everything, because cooks don’t want to change the water every time the rice changes.
Schools, hospitals and government programmes
They buy in bulk through tenders, usually with a spec written into the contract.
Food manufacturers
Some use medium grain for frozen meals, rice mixes and arroz con dulce.
Packing Options
Puerto Rico counts rice in pounds, so most buyers of medium grain rice in Puerto Rico want pound packs.
| Packing | Typical buyer |
|---|---|
| 2 lb, 3 lb, 5 lb | Supermarket shelves |
| 10 lb, 20 lb | Family bulk buys and colmados |
| 50 lb | Restaurants, fondas and wholesale |
| 25 kg, 50 kg | Institutions and repackers |
| 1 tonne jumbo | Repackers and manufacturers |
Bags can be plain or printed with your brand. Most retail packs of medium grain rice in Puerto Rico carry both Spanish and English, so we print to your bilingual artwork.
Private Label for Puerto Rican Brands
A lot of the medium grain rice in Puerto Rico is sold under brands that families have trusted for years. If you’re building or growing a brand, we can pack to your design at origin.
A few practical points from what we’ve seen:
- Put “Grano Mediano” and “Medium Grain” clearly on the front.
- Follow US food labelling rules, since Puerto Rico is a US territory. Your regulatory adviser should check the final artwork.
- If your current brand sells enriched rice, raise that at the start. Much of the rice sold on the island is enriched, and it’s a specific request we confirm on each quotation.
- Keep the colour and design consistent so shoppers can spot it on a crowded shelf.
New bags usually add one to two weeks to the first order. Our post on rice suppliers for supermarkets explains how we work with retailers.
Importing Into Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico sits inside the US customs territory, so importing medium grain rice in Puerto Rico follows US federal rules rather than Caribbean ones. That means the FDA’s food import requirements apply, including prior notice of each shipment and the importer’s supplier verification duties. The FDA’s page on importing food products is the place to start.
US Customs and Border Protection handles clearance, and duty is set by the US tariff schedule. Rates and rules change, so check the current position with a licensed customs broker in San Juan before you price your stock.
From our side, each shipment comes with a commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading, certificate of origin, phytosanitary certificate, fumigation certificate and certificate of analysis. We can share the documents your FSVP programme needs, including our quality and food safety records. Our rice export documents checklist lists everything.
Shipping to San Juan
The main container port for medium grain rice in Puerto Rico is San Juan. Routing depends on the line and origin, and cargo often moves through a Caribbean or US hub. Transit time varies, so we quote the actual route and timing when we send an offer.
A 20ft container holds roughly 25 tonnes of bagged rice. Smaller retail bags fit a bit less once they’re cartoned or baled. See how many tons of rice fit in a 20ft container.
We quote FOB or CIF San Juan. If you’re unsure which suits you, read our FOB vs CIF rice price guide.
What Shoppers Look For
Puerto Rican shoppers have been buying medium grain rice all their lives. They check:
- Shape. Plump, not long and thin.
- Colour. Clean and white, slightly translucent.
- Few broken grains. Broken bits go mushy and spoil the pegao.
- How it cooks. Tender and a little sticky, with no hard centre.
- The brand. People buy what their mother bought.
Get these right and medium grain rice in Puerto Rico practically sells itself. Get them wrong and the bag sits on the shelf.
Seasonal Planning
Rice sales on the island climb from November. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year and Three Kings Day all mean big pots of arroz con gandules and plenty of arroz con dulce. The holiday season in Puerto Rico runs long, often into the Fiestas de la Calle San Sebastián in January.
With sourcing, packing and transit, you need to order medium grain rice in Puerto Rico about three months before the holidays. That means September at the latest for a December peak. Many of our buyers set up a container every four to eight weeks so the shelves never run thin.
Mixed Containers
Not every buyer of medium grain rice in Puerto Rico needs a full container of one product. A mixed load lets you cover the main shelf and test a new line.
| Product | Packing | Rough share |
|---|---|---|
| Medium grain rice | 3 lb and 5 lb own brand | 50% |
| Medium grain rice | 20 lb and 50 lb | 30% |
| Thai jasmine rice | 5 lb | 20% |
Jasmine is a growing line on the island, especially with younger shoppers, so adding some is a low risk way to test it.
How We Check Quality
Before any medium grain rice in Puerto Rico leaves for San Juan, the lot goes through moisture testing, grading for broken grains, colour sorting, a cooking test and fumigation. Bags are weighed on calibrated scales. You can appoint SGS, Intertek, Bureau Veritas or any surveyor you like to check at loading.
We keep reference samples from each shipment, so if anything comes up after arrival, we can compare.
Hurricane Season and Stock Levels
Anyone who’s lived through a big storm on the island knows what happens to the rice aisle when a hurricane is on the way. Families stock up on rice, beans, canned food and water, and shelves can empty in a day.
Hurricane season runs from June to November. Importers of medium grain rice in Puerto Rico who keep a safety stock through those months avoid the worst of it. After a storm, ports and roads can be slow for a while, so having rice already in the warehouse matters. We suggest buyers plan an extra container before the season gets busy, rather than ordering in a rush once a storm is forecast.
Food Service Buyers on the Island
Restaurants, fondas, hotels and caterers buy medium grain rice in Puerto Rico differently from supermarkets. They care less about the bag and more about yield and how the rice behaves in a big caldero.
What they tell us they want:
- Rice that cooks the same every time, so the cook doesn’t have to adjust the water
- A good pegao without burning
- Grains that hold up on a steam table for a lunch service
- 50 lb sacks that are easy to store and handle
For them, the standard grade in 50 lb sacks usually makes sense. It cooks almost like the premium grade and costs less. Hotels on the tourist strip sometimes take the premium grade for the dining room and the standard grade for staff meals.
Storage in a Hot, Humid Climate
Puerto Rico’s heat and humidity are hard on stored rice. A few habits keep medium grain rice in Puerto Rico warehouses in good shape:
- Keep bags on pallets, never on bare concrete
- Leave space between stacks and walls so air can move
- Keep the store dry and shaded
- Sell the oldest stock first
- Check a few bags every month for insects and smell
Medium grain stored this way keeps its quality for about a year. If you plan to hold stock longer, tell us and we’ll talk about packing that suits long storage.
Why Buyers Come to Us
Most medium grain rice in Puerto Rico has traditionally come from the US mainland. That’s not going to change overnight, and we’re not pretending otherwise. What we offer is a second source with written specs, private label at origin, and a mill that answers the phone.
Buyers usually call us for one of three reasons. Their current supplier raised prices again. Quality changed from one shipment to the next. Or they want their own brand on the bag and their supplier won’t do it. If any of those sound familiar, it’s worth getting samples and comparing.
We also handle long grain, jasmine, parboiled and broken rice, so a distributor on the island can cover several shelves from one supplier. Our guide to Thai long grain rice vs American long grain rice is useful if you sell both.
Mistakes Buyers Make
Sending long grain to a medium grain market
Sending long grain to buyers of medium grain rice in Puerto Rico happens more than you’d think. A cheaper long grain offer looks good on paper, then sits unsold because the shopper wanted grano mediano.
Forgetting the US rules
Puerto Rico follows FDA and US customs requirements. Paperwork that works for the Dominican Republic may not work in San Juan.
Too many bag sizes too soon
Start with the two or three sizes of medium grain rice in Puerto Rico your customers buy most.
Ordering late for the holidays
The holiday season is the biggest rice season. Plan early.
A Recent First Order
Here’s a recent example, details changed for privacy. A distributor serving colmados and small supermarkets around Caguas and the east of the island was buying medium grain through a mainland wholesaler. Prices kept rising and he had no say in the bag.
He asked us for samples of our premium and standard medium grain. He made arroz con gandules and plain arroz blanco with both, and showed them to a few of his shop owners. They went for the premium grade. His first order was one 20ft container: 3 lb and 5 lb bags under his own bilingual label, plus some 50 lb sacks for restaurants.
His broker filed the FDA prior notice and handled clearance. The container arrived on schedule, cleared, and the rice was on shelves before Thanksgiving. He’s ordering again for spring. That’s how a first order of medium grain rice in Puerto Rico usually goes when the samples and paperwork are sorted early.
How to Test Samples Properly
A spec sheet tells you a lot, but the pot tells you more. When our samples arrive, cook them the way your customers do. We’d suggest three tests:
- Plain arroz blanco with a little oil and salt. Check tenderness, stickiness and whether any grains stay hard in the middle.
- Arroz con gandules in a caldero. Watch how it takes the sofrito and how the pegao forms.
- Leftovers the next day. Good medium grain reheats soft without going gluey.
Compare against the brand your customers already buy. If you can, get a couple of shop owners or cooks to taste it blind. That’s the quickest way to know whether a new source of medium grain rice in Puerto Rico will sell.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is your medium grain rice the same as Calrose?
We supply Calrose and Calrose-style medium grain. The origin and variety are confirmed on each quotation. More detail is in our post on Calrose rice wholesale suppliers.
Can you pack in pounds with Spanish labels?
Yes. We print bilingual bags to your artwork.
What’s the minimum order?
One 20ft container, about 25 tonnes, and you can mix products and bag sizes. See our minimum order guide.
Do you help with FDA paperwork?
We supply the documents and records your broker and FSVP programme need. Filing prior notice is done by the importer or broker.
Do you sell to other Caribbean markets?
Yes, we ship worldwide. Our post on parboiled rice demand in the Caribbean covers the English speaking islands.
Order Medium Grain Rice in Puerto Rico
If you import, distribute or retail rice on the island, send us your product, bag sizes, quantity and port. We’ll send samples and a dated offer for medium grain rice in Puerto Rico, packed the way your shoppers expect.
De Thai Products 1989 Company Limited. Email info@dethairice.com, WhatsApp +66 81 034 6390, or use our contact page. You can also read about us first.
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