People who search for Calrose rice wholesale suppliers usually already know the rice. They’ve cooked it, sold it, or put it in a poke bowl. What they want is somebody who can deliver it by the container, at a fair price, with the same grain every time. That last part is harder to find than it should be.
We’re a rice mill and exporter. Besides our own Thai rice, we supply Calrose and Calrose-style medium grain rice in bulk and private label to importers, distributors, restaurant groups, supermarkets and food manufacturers worldwide. This page covers what we sell, the specs, packing, shipping, and the questions worth asking any of the Calrose rice wholesale suppliers you’re comparing, including us.
Table of Contents
What Calrose Rice Actually Is
Calrose is a medium grain rice variety developed at the Rice Experiment Station in Biggs, California, and released in 1948. The name joins “California” and “rose”. It became so popular that “Calrose” is now used loosely for the whole style of soft, slightly sticky medium grain rice. Wikipedia’s Calrose rice page has the history.
That loose use matters when you buy. Some Calrose rice wholesale suppliers sell true California-grown Calrose. Others sell medium grain from other origins that cooks in a very similar way and is labelled Calrose-style. Both have a place. What you shouldn’t accept is a supplier who won’t tell you which one you’re getting. We confirm variety and origin on every quotation.
How Calrose Cooks
Calrose grains, as sold by most Calrose rice wholesale suppliers, are plump, about two to three times as long as they are wide. Cooked, they’re soft and moist, and they cling together without turning to paste. They also stay soft when cool, which is why Calrose is so popular for rice bowls, onigiri and packaged meals.
It sits between long grain, which cooks dry and separate, and short grain sushi rice, which is very sticky. The starch balance is the reason: less amylose than long grain, more than short grain. For most kitchens that means one rice that can do a lot of jobs.
Who Buys Calrose by the Container
We see five main groups looking for Calrose rice wholesale suppliers.
Pacific Island importers
Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia all eat a lot of medium grain. Calrose is the everyday rice in many homes there, often bought in 20 lb or 50 lb bags.
Middle Eastern distributors
Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and parts of the Gulf use medium grain for dishes like mansaf and maqluba. Calrose and Egyptian-style medium grain are both common. You can read about mansaf on Wikipedia.
Asian and poke restaurant groups
Poke shops, ramen bars, Korean and Japanese casual restaurants often use Calrose as their main rice. It’s cheaper than premium short grain and works well in bowls. Poke in particular has pushed demand up.
Latin Caribbean buyers
Puerto Rico runs on medium grain. Our guide to medium grain rice in Puerto Rico covers that market.
Food manufacturers
Frozen meals, rice bowls, rice crackers and ready-to-eat products often use Calrose because it holds its texture after cooling and reheating. See our post on rice supply for food manufacturers.
What We Sell
For buyers looking for Calrose rice wholesale suppliers, these are the products we offer:
- Calrose and medium grain rice: the core product, in premium and standard grades
- Sushi rice: short grain Japonica for sushi bars that want a stickier rice
- Brown rice: for health food and bowl concepts that offer a brown option
- Thai jasmine rice and Thai white rice 5% broken: for buyers who carry long grain as well
You can see everything on our products page.
Calrose Specifications
These are the specs we put in the contract. Good Calrose rice wholesale suppliers should give you numbers like these in writing.
| 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 |
| Red and damaged grains | Limited to grade | Limited to grade |
| Foreign matter | 0.5% max | 0.5% max |
| Crop | Current season | Current season |
| Variety and origin | Confirmed on quotation | Confirmed on quotation |
| Shelf life | About 12 months, stored well | About 12 months, stored well |
If you need something specific, like a lower broken percentage for a premium retail bag, ask. We’ll tell you straight whether we can meet it and what it does to the price.
Every lot is checked before packing. Our quality control page explains the process.
Packing Options
Buyers who come to Calrose rice wholesale suppliers are split between pound and kilo markets, so we pack in both.
| Packing | Typical buyer |
|---|---|
| 5 lb, 10 lb, 15 lb | Supermarkets and Asian groceries |
| 20 lb, 25 lb | Pacific Island and family bulk buys |
| 50 lb | Restaurants, poke shops and wholesale |
| 1 kg, 2 kg, 5 kg | Retail in kilo markets |
| 10 kg, 25 kg, 50 kg | Wholesale and Middle Eastern markets |
| 1 tonne jumbo | Repackers and manufacturers |
Plain bags, our brand, or your brand. Most serious Calrose rice wholesale suppliers offer private label, but check the minimums and how long artwork takes.
Private Label Calrose
A lot of the Calrose sold in Pacific Island shops and Asian groceries is packed under the importer’s own name. We print your artwork at origin, so the rice arrives ready for the shelf.
Things to sort early:
- The words on the front. “Calrose” or “Medium Grain”, and whether you can call it Calrose depends on the variety. We’ll confirm.
- Labelling rules in your country. US, Australian, EU and Gulf rules all differ.
- Net weight in pounds, kilos or both.
- Cooking instructions. Calrose needs less water than long grain, and new shoppers often get it wrong.
New bag designs usually add one to two weeks to the first order. Repeat orders are faster.
What to Ask Calrose Rice Wholesale Suppliers
Whether you buy from us or someone else, these questions sort the real suppliers from the rest.
Which variety and which origin?
If they won’t say, walk away.
What’s the broken percentage, in writing?
Calrose with a lot of broken grains goes mushy. Get the number on the contract.
Which crop year?
Medium grain is best within a year of harvest. Old crop can taste flat and cook unevenly.
Can I have samples from the actual lot?
A nice sample from a different lot proves nothing.
Who inspects at loading?
Good Calrose rice wholesale suppliers welcome SGS, Intertek or Bureau Veritas. We do.
What are the payment terms?
For a first order, a deposit with the balance against documents, or a letter of credit, protects both sides.
How to Cook It (For Your Customers)
It sounds basic, but cooking instructions on the bag reduce complaints, and few Calrose rice wholesale suppliers bother to mention it. For Calrose, the usual guidance is:
- Rinse two or three times until the water runs mostly clear.
- Use about one and a quarter cups of water to one cup of rice in a pot, or follow the rice cooker line for white rice.
- Bring to the boil, cover, then simmer on low for 15 to 18 minutes.
- Rest ten minutes with the lid on before fluffing.
For sushi-style use, season with rice vinegar, sugar and salt while warm. For poke bowls, let it cool a little so it doesn’t wilt the toppings.
Shipping and Lead Times
We ship worldwide, like most established Calrose rice wholesale suppliers. Lead time from confirmed order to loading is usually two to four weeks, longer if new private label bags need printing. Transit depends on route and destination, and we give you the actual routing when we send an offer.
A 20ft container holds about 25 tonnes of bagged rice. See how many tons of rice fit in a 20ft container. We quote FOB or CIF your port; our FOB vs CIF rice price guide explains the difference.
Documents
Every container comes with a commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading, certificate of origin, phytosanitary certificate, fumigation certificate and certificate of analysis. Some markets need extra registrations or health certificates, so tell us early. Our rice export documents checklist covers the full list.
For US buyers, including Hawaii and Guam, FDA import rules apply and the importer needs supplier verification records. We share what your programme needs.
Pricing
Calrose prices move with crop size, origin, freight and exchange rates. Some years California has a short crop and prices jump. That’s exactly when buyers start calling other Calrose rice wholesale suppliers, and when having a second source pays off.
We send dated offers, usually valid for a few days. Send us your grade, packing, quantity and port and we’ll quote FOB and CIF. When you compare offers, compare like for like: same variety, same broken percentage, same crop, same packing, same terms.
Storage
Medium grain rice from any of the Calrose rice wholesale suppliers keeps well if it’s looked after:
- Store on pallets, off the floor
- Keep it dry, cool and out of direct sun
- Leave air space between stacks and walls
- First in, first out
- Check bags monthly for insects or off smells
In hot, humid places like the Pacific Islands or the Caribbean, rotate stock faster. Calrose stored well keeps its quality for about a year.
Mixed Containers
Many of the buyers who contact Calrose rice wholesale suppliers don’t need 25 tonnes of one product. A mixed container is normal for us.
| Product | Packing | Rough share |
|---|---|---|
| Calrose premium | 15 lb and 20 lb own brand | 40% |
| Calrose standard | 50 lb sacks | 40% |
| Sushi rice | 15 kg | 10% |
| Thai jasmine rice | 25 lb | 10% |
This kind of split suits an Asian grocery distributor or a Pacific Island importer who sells to both shops and restaurants.
A Recent Order
Here’s a recent example, details changed for privacy. A restaurant supply company serving poke and ramen shops had been buying Calrose through a local wholesaler. When the California crop came in short, the price went up twice in three months.
They asked us for samples of premium and standard Calrose. Their chefs cooked both in rice cookers, seasoned some for sushi and served some plain. They chose standard for poke bowls and premium for the sushi counters. The first order was one container, mostly 50 lb sacks, with a share in 15 lb bags under their own label for retail.
An inspector checked the rice at loading, the documents went to their broker in draft before sailing, and the container cleared without trouble. They kept their local wholesaler for top-up orders and now use us for the bulk. Most buyers who switch Calrose rice wholesale suppliers do it that way, a bit at a time.
Market Notes From Our Shipping Desk
Hawaii and the Pacific Islands
Rice is eaten at nearly every meal here, from plate lunch to spam musubi. Families buy big bags, so 20 lb, 25 lb and 50 lb sizes sell best. Shoppers know Calrose well and notice quickly if the grain changes. Freight to smaller islands can take time, so importers usually hold more stock than buyers elsewhere.
Jordan, Lebanon and the Gulf
Medium grain is the base for mansaf, maqluba and stuffed vegetables. Buyers here often compare Calrose with Egyptian medium grain on price. Packing is usually in kilos, from 1 kg retail bags to 25 kg and 50 kg sacks. Arabic labelling is normal, and we print it to your artwork.
North America and Europe
Here the big buyers are restaurant groups, Asian grocery distributors and food manufacturers. Poke and Korean food have pushed demand up in cities on both continents. For these buyers, Calrose rice wholesale suppliers need to provide clean food safety paperwork as much as good rice.
Latin America and the Caribbean
Puerto Rico is the clearest medium grain market in the region, but Calrose also sells in parts of Central and South America where cooks want a softer rice. Our comparison of grain types for Latin food explains where it fits.
Wherever you sell, the right Calrose rice wholesale suppliers will match bag size, labelling and documents to your market without being asked twice.
Calrose vs Sushi Rice vs Jasmine
Buyers often ask which rice to put where. Here’s the short version we give restaurant groups and distributors.
| Calrose | Short grain sushi rice | Thai jasmine | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grain | Medium, plump | Short, round | Long, slim |
| Texture cooked | Soft, slightly sticky | Very sticky, glossy | Soft, separate, fragrant |
| Stays soft when cool | Yes | Yes | Less so |
| Best for | Bowls, onigiri, everyday rice, Latin and Middle Eastern dishes | Premium sushi | Thai and Southeast Asian food, fried rice |
| Price level | Middle | Higher | Middle to higher |
Many buyers who come to us as Calrose rice wholesale suppliers end up taking two of these in one container, because their customers use more than one.
How Restaurants Use Calrose
Calrose is a workhorse. In a poke shop it’s the base of every bowl. In a ramen bar it’s the side rice and the rice for donburi. In a Korean place it goes under bibimbap. In a Middle Eastern kitchen it’s the rice for mansaf, maqluba and stuffed vegetables. In a Puerto Rican fonda it’s arroz con gandules.
What these kitchens share is volume. They cook rice all day and want it to behave the same way in every batch. That’s why restaurant buyers are often the most demanding customers of Calrose rice wholesale suppliers. A small change in crop or milling shows up as complaints from cooks within a week.
Our advice to restaurant groups is simple: lock in one grade, test each new shipment with a quick cook before it goes to the kitchens, and keep a few weeks of safety stock.
Calrose for Food Manufacturing
Food manufacturers use Calrose in frozen meals, rice bowls, sushi kits, rice crackers and snacks. They care about different things from restaurants:
- How the rice holds after freezing and reheating
- Water absorption, which affects yield and cost per pack
- Broken percentage, which affects texture in the finished product
- Consistent moisture, so cooking lines don’t need adjusting
- Full traceability and food safety documents
If you’re a manufacturer comparing Calrose rice wholesale suppliers, ask for a pilot quantity first and run it on your line. We can send a few hundred kilos for trials before you commit to a container.
Mill vs Trader
Some Calrose rice wholesale suppliers are mills or packers. Others are traders who buy from mills and resell. Both can work, but they’re different.
A trader gives you flexibility and can sometimes find a cheap lot. But you’re one step further from the rice, and it’s harder to know where it came from. A mill or packer controls grading, packing and quality checks, and can put your brand on the bag at origin.
We mill and pack our own Thai rice, and we source medium grain to spec from partners we know well, then pack and ship it ourselves. We tell you exactly what you’re buying and where it came from.
Red Flags When Comparing Suppliers
We’ve seen buyers burned by these more than once.
- No variety or origin on the offer. You might get any medium grain at all.
- A price far below the market. Usually old crop, high broken, or not Calrose.
- No inspection allowed. A good supplier welcomes it.
- 100% payment up front on a first order. You carry all the risk.
- Samples that look nothing like the shipment. Always keep a sealed sample to compare.
Any of the Calrose rice wholesale suppliers you consider, us included, should pass all five of these checks without fuss.
Building a Supply Plan
The buyers who do best with Calrose don’t buy one container and disappear for six months. They know their monthly volume, keep safety stock, and book on a schedule. Send us your monthly sales by grade and pack size and we’ll suggest a container plan. Regular buyers also get first call on good lots when the crop is tight.
Mistakes Buyers Make
Assuming every medium grain is Calrose
They’re not all the same. Ask for the variety.
Buying old crop to save money
The savings disappear when customers complain the rice tastes stale.
Skipping the cooking test
Cook the samples in the same rice cookers your kitchens use. Results can differ.
Not planning for short crops
Keep a second source of Calrose rice wholesale suppliers lined up before you need it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are you one of the Calrose rice wholesale suppliers that ships worldwide?
Yes. We ship to importers in the Pacific, the Middle East, the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Is your Calrose grown in California?
We supply both California Calrose and Calrose-style medium grain from other origins. Variety and origin are confirmed on each quotation.
What’s the minimum order?
One 20ft container, about 25 tonnes, and you can mix products and bag sizes. See our minimum order guide.
Can Calrose be used for sushi?
Yes, many restaurants use it as a lower cost sushi rice. For premium sushi, short grain Japonica is better.
Medium grain or long grain for Latin dishes?
It depends on the dish. We’ve written a full comparison: medium grain vs long grain rice for Latin dishes.
Order From One of the Calrose Rice Wholesale Suppliers That Packs Your Brand
If you’re comparing Calrose rice wholesale suppliers, send us your grade, packing, quantity and port. We’ll send samples from the lot and a dated offer, with variety and origin stated clearly.
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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