If you run a food distribution business in the States, you’ve probably bought brown rice from the same two or three domestic packers for years. Then one season the price jumps, a lot comes in stale, or your Asian grocery customers start asking for brown jasmine that your usual source can’t get. That’s usually when people start looking for a second brown rice wholesale supplier USA importers can buy from direct, and that’s where we come in.
We’re De Thai Products 1989 Company Limited, a rice miller and exporter in Thailand. We sell brown rice wholesale by the container: long grain brown rice, Thai brown jasmine, red cargo rice and riceberry, in 25 kg and 50 lb bags or packed under your own label. We ship to US ports on both coasts, and worldwide. This page covers what we sell, the specs, packing, pricing, the import paperwork, and how a first order with us usually goes.
Table of Contents
What a Brown Rice Wholesale Supplier USA Buyers Can Trust Should Offer
Before we get into our own products, it’s worth being clear about what you should expect from any overseas source. A brown rice wholesale supplier USA buyers stick with should be able to do five things without a fuss:
- Send samples from the lot you’ll actually get
- Put moisture, broken percentage and purity in writing
- Mill close to the shipping date so the rice arrives fresh
- Provide lab reports when your customers ask for them
- Give you a dated price with clear FOB or CIF terms
If a seller can’t do those, it doesn’t matter how cheap they are. Brown rice has a shorter life than white rice, and a container that sat too long before loading will cost you more in complaints than you saved on the invoice.
What We Sell
Here’s our wholesale brown rice range for the US market.
- Brown rice. Long grain, whole grain, bran and germ intact. Mild, nutty, cooks separate. The everyday product for retail and food service.
- Thai brown jasmine rice, also called brown Hom Mali. Softer, lightly fragrant, popular in Asian grocery and premium retail. More on it in Thai brown jasmine rice wholesale.
- Thai red cargo rice. Red bran whole grain rice, for health food stores and specialty shelves.
- Riceberry. Dark purple whole grain rice, a Thai specialty. See riceberry rice wholesale.
- Organic brown and brown jasmine on request, with certification confirmed per lot.
If you also buy white rice, we can put it in the same order. Everything we mill is on the products page.
Brown Rice Specifications
Specs are the first thing to compare. These are the specs we normally contract with buyers who use us as their brown rice wholesale supplier USA side. Final numbers are written into each contract, which is what you should expect from any brown rice wholesale supplier USA buyers trust.
| Item | Long Grain Brown Rice | Brown Jasmine Rice |
|---|---|---|
| Grain | Whole grain, bran and germ intact | Whole grain, bran and germ intact |
| Variety | Thai long grain | Thai Hom Mali (jasmine) |
| Purity | 95% min | 92% min jasmine |
| Moisture | 14% max | 14% max |
| Broken grains | 5% max | 5% max |
| Green and immature grains | Limited according to grade | Limited according to grade |
| Paddy grains | Limited according to grade | Limited according to grade |
| Foreign matter | 0.5% max | 0.5% max |
| Crop | Current season | Current season |
| Shelf life | About 6 to 12 months cool and dry | About 6 to 12 months cool and dry |
A certificate of analysis goes with every shipment. If your customers need pesticide residue, heavy metal or inorganic arsenic results, we arrange tests through an accredited lab and send the reports with the papers. The rice standard page explains how Thai grades are set.
Why US Buyers Look Abroad for Brown Rice
The US grows plenty of rice, so it’s fair to ask why anyone would import brown rice from Thailand. In our experience, buyers come to us for one of four reasons.
Brown jasmine. Real brown Hom Mali comes from Thailand. US-grown aromatic rice exists, but shoppers who grew up on Thai jasmine can taste the difference.
Specialty rice. Red cargo and riceberry aren’t grown at scale in the US. Health food chains and online brands want them.
A second source. Relying on one domestic packer is risky. A weather problem, a mill breakdown or a contract dispute can leave your shelves empty. Having an overseas brown rice wholesale supplier USA distributors can switch to keeps you covered.
Price in some seasons. Depending on the year, the crop and the exchange rate, imported Thai brown rice can land at a competitive price. Not always, but often enough to be worth comparing.
If you want the bigger picture on demand, read our post on brown rice demand in North America.
Who Buys Wholesale Brown Rice From Us
These are the kinds of businesses that use us as their brown rice wholesale supplier USA side.
- Food distributors supplying grocery and food service
- Asian grocery importers and chains
- Health food and natural product distributors
- Restaurant groups and bowl chains buying through their distributor
- Private label programs for supermarkets
- Food manufacturers making frozen meals, pouches, rice cakes and cereals
- Online grocery and direct-to-consumer brands
Each one needs something a little different, so tell us who your end customer is. As a brown rice wholesale supplier USA buyers come to for different reasons, we’d rather fit the packing and spec to your market than send everyone the same thing.
Comparing Our Brown Rice Types
| Item | Long Grain Brown | Brown Jasmine | Red Cargo | Riceberry |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taste | Mild, nutty | Soft, lightly fragrant | Nutty, earthy | Slightly sweet, earthy |
| Texture | Separate, firm | Softer, a little sticky | Chewy | Soft-chewy |
| Best channel | Mainstream retail, food service | Asian grocery, premium retail | Health food | Health food, online |
| Relative price | Lowest | Middle to high | Higher | Higher |
Most buyers who use us as their brown rice wholesale supplier USA side start with long grain brown or brown jasmine and add a specialty rice once the first two are selling.
Selling to Food Service
Food service buyers care about three things: the rice cooks the same every time, the bags are easy to handle, and the supply doesn’t stop. Bowl chains, university dining, hospitals and meal kit companies cook brown rice in big batches, often in combi ovens or commercial rice cookers. If one lot cooks faster or softer than the last, the kitchen notices.
That’s why we keep the spec tight and mill from the same variety for regular food service accounts. A brown rice wholesale supplier USA food service distributors can rely on should also give you enough notice of crop changes. When new crop comes in, it often needs slightly less water. We tell you, so you can tell the kitchens. Poke and sushi chains often want brown rice next to white sushi rice, which we cover in sushi rice demand in US restaurants.
Selling to Retail
Retail is about the pack. Shoppers judge brown rice on the look of the grain through the window of the bag, the brand, the price per pound, and the cooking time on the back. Clean, even grains sell. Grains with lots of green or chalky kernels don’t.
For retail programs, we color-sort carefully, keep broken grains low, and vacuum pack when the buyer wants longer shelf life. If you’re building a store brand, ask your brown rice wholesale supplier USA side for print proofs before the full run. We send proofs as standard.
Working With Repackers
Plenty of US distributors buy 25 kg or 50 lb bags and repack into smaller retail bags in their own facility. That’s often the cheapest route, because you’re not paying for small-pack labor in Thailand. If you do this, ask for lined bulk bags, keep the repacking room cool, and repack in batches you can sell within a few months. Your certifier or retail customer may also want to see the chain of documents from the mill to your repacking plant, so keep lot numbers on everything.
Contracts and Regular Supply
One container to try the product is fine. But if brown rice is a regular line for you, a supply plan works better. We agree on a monthly or quarterly schedule, the spec, the packing and a pricing method. Some buyers fix price per shipment, others agree a formula. Either way, a schedule lets us mill fresh for each shipment rather than pulling from old stock. That’s the biggest quality advantage of having a regular brown rice wholesale supplier USA distributors plan with instead of buying spot every time.
Why Buy From a Thai Mill
Thailand has been exporting rice for a very long time, and Thai mills are used to strict export specs, color sorting and export paperwork. For brown jasmine in particular, Thailand is the source. Buying from the mill rather than through several traders also means one point of contact, one set of documents, and someone who can actually answer when you ask how a lot was milled. As a brown rice wholesale supplier USA buyers deal with directly, that’s what we try to offer.
Packing Options
Packing is where a brown rice wholesale supplier USA buyers work with should be flexible.
- 25 kg woven bags with an inner liner, for food service and repacking
- 50 lb bags, the size many US distributors prefer
- Retail packs of 2 lb, 5 lb and 10 lb with your brand
- Vacuum packs for longer shelf life in retail
- Cartons and pallets to suit your warehouse
US retail labels need the nutrition facts panel, ingredient statement, net weight in both US and metric units, country of origin and your company details. Send us your artwork and we’ll print it, or we can help lay it out. Our posts on rice supplier for supermarkets and private label Thai Hom Mali rice explain the private label process.
Keeping Brown Rice Fresh From Mill to Shelf
This is the single biggest difference between a good and a bad brown rice wholesale supplier USA buyers deal with. Brown rice still has its bran, and the oils in the bran go stale over time, faster in heat. A container that sat at the port for a month in summer can arrive tasting flat or slightly off.
What we do about it:
- Mill and pack close to the loading date
- Keep moisture tight
- Use lined bulk bags and vacuum retail packs where it makes sense
- Book shipping so the container doesn’t wait at the terminal
- Suggest smaller, regular orders rather than one huge one
What you can do: store it cool and dry, rotate strictly, and don’t buy six months of stock at once. If your warehouse is hot in summer, plan your heavier orders for the cooler months.
Shipping to US Ports
Shipping times matter more for brown rice than white, so plan around them. We load at Bangkok and Laem Chabang. West Coast ports like Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma usually take around three to four weeks. East Coast and Gulf ports such as New York, Savannah, Charleston and Houston take longer. We’ll quote whichever port suits your warehouse.
A 20-foot container takes about 20 to 25 tons depending on bag size, and a 40-foot about twice that. See how many tons of rice fit in a 20ft container for the numbers.
We quote FOB Thailand if you have your own forwarder, or CIF to your US port. If you’re comparing offers from more than one brown rice wholesale supplier USA importers use, put them on the same Incoterm first. Our post on FOB vs CIF rice price shows how.
US Import Requirements
Any brown rice wholesale supplier USA importers use should know these rules. You’ll handle the US side with your customs broker, but here’s what’s involved.
- FDA food facility registration. The mill and packing facility must be registered. We confirm the registration details on your quote.
- Prior notice. Filed with the FDA before the shipment arrives.
- FSVP. The US importer usually needs a Foreign Supplier Verification Program. We supply the documents you need for it.
- Labeling. Retail packs must meet FDA labeling rules.
- Customs. Entry through CBP with the usual commercial documents.
We send a commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading, certificate of origin, phytosanitary certificate, fumigation certificate, certificate of analysis and any lab reports you ask for. Our rice export documents checklist covers each one.
Price
We don’t post a fixed price because Thai rice prices change with the harvest, the baht and freight. As a rough guide, long grain brown rice is priced near the matching white grade. Brown jasmine is priced well above long grain brown, following the price of whole jasmine. Red cargo and riceberry sit higher again. Organic adds a premium. Retail packing, vacuum bags and lab tests all add a bit per ton.
When you ask for a quote, tell us:
- Variety and grade
- Bag size and whether it’s private label
- Quantity per shipment and how often
- US port
- FOB or CIF
- Any lab tests or certificates you need
You’ll get a dated offer with the specs written in. Regular buyers who order on a schedule usually get better pricing than one-off orders, because we can plan milling around them. That’s how most long-term brown rice wholesale supplier USA relationships work.
Payment Terms
Payment terms with a new brown rice wholesale supplier USA side are usually simple to start. We usually work on a deposit by wire transfer with the balance against copy documents, or an irrevocable letter of credit at sight. After a few shipments, terms can be discussed. We don’t load without a clear payment arrangement.
Minimum Order
Like most of the brown rice wholesale supplier USA importers deal with, we sell by the container. Our minimum is one 20-foot container. On a first order you can split it, for example half long grain brown and half brown jasmine, or brown rice with white jasmine. More detail in Thai rice minimum order quantity.
How a First Order Usually Goes
If you’ve never bought from an overseas brown rice wholesale supplier USA importers use, here’s how it works with us.
1. You tell us what you need: variety, packing, quantity, port.
2. We send samples and a draft spec.
3. You cook and test the samples. We adjust if needed.
4. We send a dated quote. You confirm and pay the deposit or open the LC.
5. We mill, pack and send you photos of the bags and labels.
6. A surveyor checks quality and weight at loading if you want one.
7. We load, seal the container and send photos and the documents.
8. Your broker clears the shipment and you receive it.
From confirmation to loading usually takes two to four weeks, depending on packing. Private label printing adds time the first run.
Quality Control
This is the checklist we run on every lot as a brown rice wholesale supplier USA buyers depend on.
- Color sorting to remove discolored grains, stones and paddy
- Moisture checks on the bagging line
- Check for green and immature grains
- Fumigation before loading, with certificate
- Retained sealed sample from each lot
- Independent survey at loading on request
- Third-party lab testing on request
More on our quality control page.
Brown Rice and Health Claims
Health claims are your responsibility as the US brand owner, not your brown rice wholesale supplier USA side, but we can help with the data. The FDA has rules on what you can say on a pack about health and nutrition. “Whole grain,” “good source of fiber” and similar claims have specific requirements. Talk to your label consultant before printing. The whole grain article on Wikipedia gives general background on what counts as whole grain, but your claim has to meet US rules, not a general definition.
What we can give you is the lab data behind it: fiber, protein and other nutrition values from an accredited lab, if your label needs them.
Cooking Brown Rice
A good brown rice wholesale supplier USA retailers use will help you get the cooking instructions right, because people who undercook brown rice don’t buy it again. Rinse, soak 30 minutes if possible, use about 1 cup of rice to 2 to 2.25 cups of water, simmer covered for 40 to 45 minutes and rest 10 minutes. Brown jasmine needs a little less water and time. For food service, many kitchens cook brown rice in combi ovens or large rice cookers on a brown rice setting.
Mistakes We See
These are the mistakes we see when buyers switch to a new brown rice wholesale supplier USA side without planning.
- Buying too much at once and letting it go stale.
- Shipping in midsummer with no plan for the heat.
- Skipping lab tests that a retail buyer will ask for later.
- Comparing an FOB price from one seller with a CIF price from another.
- Forgetting to check label rules before printing private label bags.
All easy to avoid with a bit of planning.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are you a brown rice wholesale supplier USA buyers can import from directly?
Yes. We sell direct from our mill in Thailand to US importers and distributors, FOB or CIF any major US port.
What brown rice do you sell?
As a brown rice wholesale supplier USA buyers can order from, we sell long grain brown, brown jasmine, red cargo and riceberry. Organic on request.
What’s the minimum order?
One 20-foot container, which you can split between two products on a first order.
Can you pack under our brand?
Yes, in retail and food service sizes, with US-compliant label layouts from your artwork.
Can you send lab reports for arsenic and residues?
Yes, through an accredited lab, on request.
How long does brown rice keep?
About 6 to 12 months in cool, dry storage. Vacuum packs last longer.
Get a Quote
If you’re looking for a brown rice wholesale supplier USA importers can rely on for fresh, on-spec brown rice, send us the variety, packing, quantity and port. We’ll send samples and a dated offer with the full spec written in.
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, or see our wholesale jasmine rice suppliers USA post if you also buy white jasmine.
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