Old crop vs new crop jasmine rice is one of those things importers argue about over coffee. Some swear by new crop for the smell. Others will only buy old crop because it cooks drier and fluffier. Both are right, depending on who’s eating it.
In short: new crop jasmine rice is rice from the most recent harvest, usually a few weeks to a few months old. Old crop jasmine rice is from the previous season, often a year or more after harvest. New crop smells stronger and cooks softer and stickier. Old crop smells milder, needs more water, and cooks firmer with separate grains.
We mill and export Thai Hom Mali and Thai jasmine rice, and we sell both new crop and old crop depending on what the buyer wants. This guide goes through the real differences, how to tell them apart, how they affect price and cooking, and which one makes sense for your market. Specs for what we sell are further down.
Table of Contents
What “New Crop” and “Old Crop” Actually Mean
Thai Hom Mali rice is grown mainly in the northeast of Thailand, in provinces like Surin, Roi Et, Ubon Ratchathani, Sisaket and Yasothon. It’s a photo-sensitive crop, so it’s planted in the rainy season and flowers when the days get shorter. Harvest runs roughly from November into December.
After harvest the paddy is dried, stored and milled over the following months. Rice milled and shipped from that harvest during the next several months is called new crop. Once the next harvest comes in, last year’s rice becomes old crop.
In the trade, these terms are a bit loose. Roughly:
- New crop jasmine rice: from the latest harvest, generally shipped between December and the middle of the following year.
- Old crop jasmine rice: from the previous harvest, usually 10 to 18 months or more after harvest.
Contracts often say “crop 2025/26” or “new crop 2026” to be exact. If you care, write the crop year in the contract. Don’t rely on the words alone.
Old Crop vs New Crop Jasmine Rice: The 9 Key Differences
Here’s the side by side before we get into each one.
| New crop jasmine rice | Old crop jasmine rice | |
|---|---|---|
| Aroma | Strong, sweet, pandan-like | Milder, fades over time |
| Moisture in grain | Higher | Lower, drier |
| Cooked texture | Soft, moist, slightly sticky | Firmer, fluffy, separate grains |
| Water needed | Less | More |
| Colour | Bright, translucent white | Can turn slightly creamy over time |
| Shelf life left | Longer | Shorter |
| Best for | Steamed rice, Thai and Chinese home cooking | Fried rice, pilaf, catering, reheating |
| Price | Usually higher | Usually lower |
| Who prefers it | Hong Kong, Singapore, Thai and Chinese households | Some catering, fried rice and Middle East buyers |
1. Aroma
This is the big one. The smell of jasmine rice comes mainly from a compound called 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, the same one that gives pandan leaves and fresh bread their smell. It’s volatile, which means it slowly escapes over time. New crop jasmine rice has the most of it. As months pass, especially in warm storage, the aroma fades. Old crop jasmine rice still smells nice, but you won’t get that cloud of fragrance when you lift the lid.
2. Moisture and texture
Freshly harvested rice holds more moisture inside the grain. Even after milling to 14% moisture or less, the starch in new crop is softer. That’s why new crop jasmine rice cooks moist, tender and a bit sticky. Over months of storage the grain dries and the starch firms up. Old crop cooks with more separate, firmer grains.
3. Water ratio
Because of the moisture difference, new crop needs less water. Use the same water for both and you’ll get mushy new crop or hard old crop. Rough guide:
- New crop: about 1 cup rice to 1 to 1.1 cups water in a rice cooker.
- Old crop: about 1 cup rice to 1.3 to 1.5 cups water.
This is the single most common reason people say “this rice is bad” when it’s fine. They just used the wrong water ratio for the crop.
4. Colour and shine
New crop has a bright, almost glassy white look. Old crop can pick up a slightly creamy or dull tone, especially if it was stored warm. Well stored old crop still looks good. Badly stored old crop can go yellowish, which is a quality problem, not just age.
5. Shelf life left
New crop has more life ahead of it. If you’re importing for retail and the rice will sit in a warehouse, then on a shelf, then in someone’s cupboard, starting with new crop buys you time.
6. Cooking behaviour
New crop is forgiving for steamed rice and a joy in a rice cooker. It’s less ideal for fried rice, because the soft grains clump and break when you toss them in a wok. Old crop is the cook’s friend for fried rice, pilaf and dishes where grains need to stay separate. Restaurants that cook fried rice in volume often ask for old crop on purpose.
7. Reheating
Old crop holds up better when cooked in bulk, kept warm for hours, or reheated. New crop gets softer and stickier sitting in a warmer. For hotel buffets, airline catering and large kitchens, that matters.
8. Price
New crop jasmine rice usually sells at a premium, especially in the first months after harvest. Old crop is often cheaper because the aroma has faded and buyers in the fragrant rice market pay for aroma. That said, prices depend on stock. In a year with a short harvest, old crop can be tight and prices close the gap.
9. Market preference
Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and mainland Chinese buyers tend to prefer new crop for home cooking. Thai households obviously eat new crop when it’s in season. Some buyers in the Middle East and some food service buyers elsewhere prefer old crop for its drier texture. In the US market, both sell, and many brands simply want consistency.
Old Crop vs New Crop Jasmine Rice in the Kitchen
Chefs tend to have strong views on this, so here’s how it usually plays out by dish.
- Plain steamed rice with Thai curries, stir fries and grilled meat: new crop. The aroma is half the point.
- Khao pad (Thai fried rice) and Chinese fried rice: old crop, or new crop cooked a day ahead and chilled. Soft new crop straight from the pot turns into paste in a hot wok.
- Rice porridge (jok, congee): either works. New crop breaks down faster and gives a creamier result.
- Rice salads and cold rice dishes: old crop, because the grains stay distinct.
- Pilaf, biryani-style and Middle Eastern rice dishes: old crop, for separate grains that soak up flavour without going soft.
- Sushi-style or onigiri: neither is ideal, but new crop sticks better if you must use jasmine.
None of this is a rule. Plenty of Thai cooks use new crop for fried rice and just leave the cooked rice out to dry for an hour first. But if you’re advising restaurant customers, this is a good starting point.
How to Tell New Crop From Old Crop
You can’t always tell by looking, but there are a few practical checks.
- Smell the raw rice. Open a bag and breathe in. New crop has a noticeable sweet, popcorn-like scent even raw. Old crop is faint.
- Cook a test pot. Same water ratio for both samples. New crop will be softer and stickier. Old crop will be firmer.
- Look at colour under good light. New crop looks brighter and more translucent.
- Bite a raw grain. New crop is slightly less brittle. This takes practice.
- Ask for the crop year in writing, and the milling date.
Labs can also measure aroma compounds and the gel consistency of the starch, but for most buyers a smell and cook test does the job.
Is Old Crop Jasmine Rice Bad?
No. Old crop jasmine rice is perfectly good rice. It’s not spoiled or second rate as long as it was stored properly: cool, dry, clean, away from insects and strong smells. It’s simply older, with less aroma and firmer cooking.
What you do need to watch is storage quality. Old crop that was kept in a hot, damp warehouse can turn yellow, pick up a stale smell, or get insect damage. That’s a storage problem. Good old crop and bad old crop are very different products, so always ask for a fresh sample of the actual lot.
Old Crop vs New Crop Jasmine Rice for Different Buyers
Which should you buy? It depends on who’s eating it.
| Buyer type | Our usual suggestion | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Retail brands, Asian grocery | New crop | Aroma sells, longer shelf life |
| Premium supermarket packs | New crop | Customers expect fragrance |
| Thai and Chinese restaurants | New crop for steamed rice, old crop for fried rice | Matches the dish |
| Hotels, buffets, airlines | Old crop or blend | Holds up in warmers and reheating |
| Food factories (ready meals) | Old crop | Firmer, consistent texture after processing |
| Price-driven wholesale | Old crop | Lower cost |
Some buyers ask for a blend of new and old crop to balance aroma and texture. That’s fine as long as it’s agreed and written in the contract. Blending without telling the buyer isn’t.
Our Jasmine Rice Specifications
We sell Thai Hom Mali and Thai jasmine rice in both new crop and old crop, depending on the season and your order. Here’s our standard spec for Thai Hom Mali 100% Grade A.
| Parameter | Specification |
|---|---|
| Product | Thai Hom Mali rice, 100% Grade A |
| Variety | KDML 105 and RD15 |
| Crop | New crop or old crop, crop year stated on contract |
| Hom Mali purity | 92% minimum |
| Broken grains | 4% maximum (5% option) |
| Moisture | 14% maximum |
| Average grain length | 7.0 mm minimum |
| Chalky grains | 6% maximum |
| Red and undermilled kernels | 0.5% maximum |
| Yellow / damaged grains | 0.2% maximum |
| Foreign matter | 0.1% maximum |
| Sortexed | Yes, 100% |
See full product details on Thai Hom Mali rice for sale.
For Thai jasmine / Pathumthani fragrant rice, which is a step below Hom Mali in price, the spec is long grain white, 5% broken maximum, 12 to 14% moisture, 95% purity minimum. See Thai jasmine rice for sale. For organic buyers we also have organic jasmine rice.
Not sure about the difference between Hom Mali and jasmine? Read Thai Hom Mali vs jasmine rice and Hom Mali 105 rice (KDML 105).
How We Store Old Crop Jasmine Rice
If we sell you old crop, it hasn’t been sitting in a hot shed. We hold paddy in controlled storage and mill close to shipment, because milled rice ages faster than paddy. The husk protects the grain. So “old crop” from us usually means paddy from the previous harvest, milled fresh for your order.
That matters a lot. Rice milled a week before loading from well stored old crop paddy is much better than rice milled ten months ago and left in bags. Ask any supplier when the rice was milled, not just which crop it’s from.
Storage Tips After Delivery
Whichever you buy, aroma and texture keep changing after the rice arrives. To slow that down:
- Keep it cool. Heat drives off aroma fastest. Under 25°C is good, cooler is better.
- Keep it dry. Humidity makes rice stale and invites mould.
- Keep it sealed. Open bags lose aroma quickly.
- Keep it away from strong smells. Rice absorbs odours from spices, fish, cleaning products and fuel.
- Rotate stock. First in, first out.
For retail, vacuum packs hold aroma much better than standard bags. We pack new crop jasmine rice in vacuum 1kg and 5kg packs for several markets for exactly this reason.
When to Buy for the Best New Crop
If you want the freshest new crop jasmine rice, timing matters. The main Hom Mali harvest finishes around December. First shipments of new crop usually leave Thailand in December and January, and prices for new crop are often set in that window.
Our advice to buyers who care about aroma:
- Book new crop in October or November for December and January shipment.
- Agree the crop year and milling date in the contract.
- Ask for a pre-shipment sample from the actual lot.
- Plan stock so you don’t sell last year’s crop at new crop prices, or the reverse.
Buyers who prefer old crop can often get good prices in the months just before the new harvest, from about August to November, when mills want to clear old stock.
How Crop Year Shows Up in Price Through the Year
Prices move with the calendar. This is a rough pattern we’ve seen over many seasons. It isn’t a promise, because weather, exchange rates and demand all shift things.
| Months | What’s happening | Price pattern |
|---|---|---|
| December to February | New crop harvest milled and shipped | New crop premium is clear, old crop sold off cheaper |
| March to June | Steady trade in new crop | Prices fairly stable |
| July to September | New crop is now several months old | Gap between new and old narrows |
| October to November | Mills clearing old stock before harvest | Old crop often at its cheapest |
So if you’re buying on price and your customers are fine with a firmer, milder rice, the months before harvest are a good time. If aroma is everything, book early for December and January.
Old Crop vs New Crop Jasmine Rice for Private Label Brands
If you’re building your own jasmine rice brand, crop year is a brand decision as much as a buying one. A shopper who buys your bag in March and loves the smell will be disappointed if the next bag in September smells of nothing. That’s how brands lose repeat customers.
What works for most private label buyers we supply:
- Pick one crop policy and stick with it. Most choose new crop all year.
- Contract supply across the year, so you’re not stuck buying whatever is left in the market.
- Use vacuum packs or good barrier bags to hold aroma longer.
- Print a best before date and keep stock turning.
- Taste test each shipment against the last one.
We do private label for brands in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, North America and Australia. More on that in our guide to private label Thai Hom Mali rice.
Old Crop vs New Crop Jasmine Rice: Common Questions
Which is better, old crop or new crop jasmine rice?
Neither is better in every case. New crop is better for aroma and soft steamed rice. Old crop is better for fried rice, pilaf, bulk catering and anyone who likes firmer grains.
How long is jasmine rice “new crop”?
Roughly until the next harvest arrives, but most traders treat the first six to eight months after harvest as the real new crop window.
Why does my jasmine rice smell less than before?
It’s probably older rice, or it was stored warm. Aroma fades with time and heat.
Why is my new crop jasmine rice mushy?
Too much water. Cut the water by about 10 to 20% compared with older rice.
Do you sell both old crop and new crop jasmine rice?
Yes. Tell us which you prefer and we’ll state the crop year on the offer and contract.
Our Honest Take on Old Crop vs New Crop Jasmine Rice
After many seasons of shipping both, here’s where we’ve landed. For anyone selling to households, new crop wins nearly every time. The aroma is what people pay for when they choose Thai jasmine over ordinary long grain rice, and new crop delivers it.
For kitchens cooking big volumes, the old crop vs new crop jasmine rice question is more open. Old crop is easier to cook consistently, it holds in a warmer, and it costs less. Plenty of good restaurants use it and their customers are happy.
What we don’t like is buyers getting old crop when they paid for new crop. So we put the crop year on every offer, every contract and, if you want, on the bag itself. Then the old crop vs new crop jasmine rice debate becomes a choice you make, not a surprise you find out about later.
Mistakes Buyers Make With Crop Year
We see the same few problems again and again:
- Not writing the crop year in the contract, then arguing about it after delivery.
- Paying new crop prices for old crop rice that was relabelled.
- Comparing two offers without checking they’re the same crop.
- Testing a sample with the wrong water ratio and rejecting good rice.
- Buying old crop for a retail brand that sells on aroma.
All easy to avoid with a clear contract, a real sample and a quick cook test.
Other Thai Rice We Supply
Many of our jasmine rice buyers fill the rest of the container with other Thai rice. We also export:
- Thai white rice 5% broken and 100% sortexed white rice
- Thai parboiled rice
- Thai glutinous (sticky) rice
- Thai red cargo rice
If you want background on jasmine rice in general, the jasmine rice page on Wikipedia is a fair summary, and our own post what is jasmine rice goes into more detail from the trade side.
Buy New Crop or Old Crop Jasmine Rice From Us
Whether you want new crop jasmine rice for its aroma or old crop for its firm, fluffy texture and lower price, we can supply it. We sell Thai Hom Mali 100% Grade A, Thai jasmine / Pathumthani fragrant rice and organic jasmine rice, 100% sortexed, lab tested, in retail packs from 1kg up to 50kg bags, with private label available. We ship worldwide FOB, CFR or CIF, with full rice export documents and optional SGS inspection.
If you’re working out costs, our posts on Thai Hom Mali rice price per ton and Thai jasmine rice price per ton will help.
So, old crop vs new crop jasmine rice? Tell us who you’re selling to and how they cook, and we’ll tell you which one fits. Then we’ll send a sample of both so you can test them side by side.
Email info@dethairice.com, WhatsApp +66 81 034 6390, or use our contact page.
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