If you run a catering operation and rice is on the menu every day, you already know how much depends on it. We supply parboiled rice for catering companies around the world: Thai long grain parboiled rice in 5%, 15% and 25% broken, packed in 25 kg and 50 kg bags or smaller kitchen sizes, shipped by the container to your nearest port. This page covers what we sell, the specs, how it behaves in a big kitchen, packing, shipping and how to order.
Caterers don’t buy rice the way a household does. You’re cooking hundreds or thousands of portions at a time, holding them hot for hours and trying to keep every plate looking the same as the first one. Rice that goes sticky, breaks up or turns grey on the line costs you complaints, waste and sometimes contracts. That’s why so many kitchens end up switching to parboiled rice for catering companies work, and why we’ve built a steady trade around it.
Table of Contents
Who We Are
We’re De Thai Products 1989 Company Limited, a Thai rice exporter since 1989, and parboiled rice for catering companies is one of our busiest lines. We work with milling and packing partners in Thailand’s central plains and ship parboiled, white, jasmine and Hom Mali rice to buyers in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific.
We deal with you directly, without an agent in between. When you buy parboiled rice for catering companies from us, you talk to the people who mill, sort, bag and load it. If something needs fixing, it gets fixed by the people who can actually fix it.
The Grades We Supply
| Grade | Broken grains | Best catering use |
|---|---|---|
| Parboiled 5% broken, sortexed | Max 5% | Hotels, airlines, corporate dining, premium contracts |
| Parboiled 15% broken | Max 15% | Staff canteens, schools, hospitals |
| Parboiled 25% broken | Max 25% | Large camps, budget contracts, institutional feeding |
| Parboiled 100% broken | All broken | Porridge, soups, rice flour |
You’ll find full details on each product page: parboiled rice 5% broken, 15% broken, 25% broken and 100% broken. Most of the parboiled rice for catering companies we ship goes out as 5% or 15%. The 25% grade works well where cost per plate matters more than how the grain looks.
We also pack Thai jasmine rice, white rice 5% broken and basmati rice, which caterers often add to the same container for special menus. Our full range is on the products page.
Specifications
Parboiled rice 5% broken, sortexed
| Parameter | Specification |
|---|---|
| Grain type | Long grain parboiled, double polished, sortexed |
| Average grain length | 7.0 mm and up |
| Colour | Light golden or creamy, even |
| Broken grains | Max 5% |
| Moisture | Max 14% |
| Foreign matter | Max 0.1% |
| Damaged and discoloured grains | Max 0.5% |
| Chalky grains | Max 3% |
| Red and red-streaked grains | Max 0.5% |
| Crop | Current crop |
Parboiled rice 15% broken
| Parameter | Specification |
|---|---|
| Broken grains | Max 15% |
| Moisture | Max 14% |
| Foreign matter | Max 0.5% |
| Damaged and discoloured grains | Max 1% |
| Chalky grains | Max 6% |
| Red and red-streaked grains | Max 2% |
Parboiled rice 25% broken
| Parameter | Specification |
|---|---|
| Broken grains | Max 25% |
| Moisture | Max 14% |
| Foreign matter | Max 0.5% |
| Damaged and discoloured grains | Max 2% |
| Chalky grains | Max 6% |
We grade to the Thai rice standard and the Codex Alimentarius rice standard. If your client contract sets its own rice spec, send it and we’ll check every line before quoting. More on our grading is on the rice standard page.
Why Caterers Choose Parboiled Rice
Parboiled rice is soaked, steamed and dried in the husk before milling. That process pushes nutrients into the grain and firms up the starch. The Wikipedia page on parboiled rice explains it in more depth. In a catering kitchen, here’s what that actually means:
- It holds. Parboiled rice stays loose and separate in a bain-marie for hours. White rice tends to clump and dry out.
- It’s forgiving. A few minutes too long on the heat won’t turn it to mush.
- It reheats well. Cook-chill and next-day reheating work far better than with white rice.
- It looks the same every time. Even grains, even colour, plate after plate.
- It stores well. It handles warm storerooms and long supply chains better than white rice.
These are the reasons parboiled rice for catering companies has become the default in so many camps, canteens and flight kitchens. You give up a little of the soft texture people get from jasmine, and in return you get a rice that behaves itself under pressure.
There’s also a nutrition angle that some contracts care about. Our post on parboiled rice health benefits covers it, and parboiled rice vs white rice compares the two side by side.
How It Performs in a Big Kitchen
Every kitchen is different, but these figures are a good starting point for parboiled rice for catering companies:
| Item | Typical figure |
|---|---|
| Water ratio (absorption method) | About 1 : 2.2 to 1 : 2.5 by volume |
| Cooking time | 18 to 22 minutes |
| Cooked yield | About 2.8 to 3 kg cooked per 1 kg raw |
| Raw rice per main portion | 60 to 80 g |
| Portions per 25 kg bag (at 75 g) | About 330 |
| Portions per 50 kg bag (at 75 g) | About 660 |
| Hot holding | Stays separate for 2 to 4 hours |
It cooks well in tilting kettles, combi ovens, steam ovens, large rice cookers and gastronorm trays. Many kitchens cook it in trays in a combi oven because it’s easy to portion straight from the tray to the line. Test your own ratio on day one and stick to it. Consistency is the whole point of buying parboiled rice for catering companies in the first place.
Cost Per Portion
Caterers think in plates, not tons, so let’s put it that way. Take your landed cost for one 50 kg bag, divide it by around 660 portions, and that’s your rice cost per plate. Parboiled rice usually costs less than premium jasmine or basmati, and because it wastes less on the line, the real saving is often bigger than the price gap suggests.
Our post on why parboiled rice is cheaper explains where the price difference comes from. When we quote parboiled rice for catering companies, we’re happy to work through cost per portion with you so you can price your tenders properly.
Packing for Catering Kitchens
| Packing | Notes |
|---|---|
| 50 kg PP woven bags | Lowest cost per kg, central stores |
| 25 kg PP woven bags | Easier to lift, safer for kitchen staff |
| 20 kg and 10 kg bags | Smaller sites and satellite kitchens |
| 5 kg bags | Remote sites, top-up stock |
| Private label | Your company name and logo |
Many buyers of parboiled rice for catering companies now prefer 25 kg bags because staff can lift them safely, which matters for health and safety audits. Bags show the product name, grade, net weight, origin, production and expiry dates, lot number and storage advice. We can add your company name and contract details if that helps with traceability. There’s more on bag sizes in our guide to parboiled rice 50kg bag wholesale.
Who We Supply
Our parboiled rice for catering companies goes to:
- Contract caterers running staff canteens and corporate dining
- Remote site caterers at mining, oil and gas, and construction camps
- Airline and rail catering units
- Hospital and school meal providers
- Hajj, Umrah and event caterers
- Military and government catering contractors
- Hotel groups and central production kitchens
- NGOs feeding large numbers of people
If you sell to restaurants as well, our page on bulk jasmine rice for restaurants might be useful too.
Traceability and Food Safety
Catering clients and auditors want to know where food comes from. With every shipment of parboiled rice for catering companies, we give you:
- A lot number printed on every bag
- Milling and packing dates
- A certificate of analysis for each lot
- A surveyor’s certificate of quality and weight
- Phytosanitary and fumigation certificates
- Certificate of origin
- Halal certificate on request
If one of your sites raises a question about a bag, you can trace it back to the lot and the loading date. That makes audits a lot less painful. Our quality control page explains how we check rice before it leaves.
Shipping Worldwide
We load from Bangkok and Laem Chabang to most major ports. A 20ft container takes about 25 to 26 MT of bagged rice. Rough transit times:
| Region | Typical transit |
|---|---|
| Gulf (Jeddah, Dammam, Dubai, Doha) | 16 to 28 days |
| East Africa | 20 to 30 days |
| West Africa | 35 to 50 days |
| Europe | 28 to 40 days |
| Pacific and Australia | 15 to 30 days |
For details on loading, see how many tons of rice fit in a 20ft container. If you’re feeding a big contract, we can set up regular monthly shipments so you never run low on parboiled rice for catering companies sites you manage.
Documents
Every shipment of parboiled rice for catering companies comes with:
- Commercial invoice and packing list
- Bill of lading
- Certificate of origin
- Phytosanitary certificate
- Fumigation certificate
- Certificate of quality, weight and packing
- Health certificate if your country needs one
Rules change from country to country, so check with your clearing agent and we’ll match whatever they need. Our guide to rice export documents explains each one.
Prices and Contracts
Rice prices move with the Thai crop, the baht and freight. For parboiled rice for catering companies we quote on the day and hold the price for an agreed time. For catering contracts, we can talk about:
- Fixed pricing across several shipments
- Regular call-off shipments on a schedule
- Mixed containers with more than one grade
Background reading: Thai parboiled rice 5% broken FOB price, Thai parboiled rice 25% broken price per ton and FOB vs CIF rice price. The Thai Rice Exporters Association also posts weekly reference prices.
Payment is usually a 30% deposit by T/T with the balance against a copy of the bill of lading, or an L/C at sight. Contracts follow standard Incoterms rules.
Supplying Catering Tenders
A lot of catering work is won by tender, and the rice line has to be right. We can:
- Supply to the exact rice spec in a tender
- Provide certificates and samples for bid submissions
- Hold prices for an agreed period while you bid
- Work with any inspection company your client appoints
If you’re bidding for public contracts, read our guides on rice supply for government tenders and rice supply for food aid programmes. Having a reliable source of parboiled rice for catering companies bids makes your pricing a lot easier to defend.
Storing Rice at Catering Sites
Remote camps and busy central stores aren’t always ideal for food storage. A few habits go a long way:
- Store bags on pallets, off the floor and away from walls
- Keep the store dry and well ventilated
- Rotate stock, first in first out
- Keep opened bags sealed in lidded bins
- Check regularly for insects, especially in hot weather
In good conditions, our parboiled rice for catering companies keeps up to 24 months from milling. Ask for the milling date on each lot so your stock control is accurate.
Common Kitchen Problems and Simple Fixes
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Rice too firm | Not enough water or time | Add a little water, cover, rest 5 minutes |
| Rice too soft | Too much water | Cut water slightly next batch |
| Grains sticking in trays | Over-stirring | Fluff once with a fork, don’t stir |
| Rice drying in bain-marie | Uncovered trays | Cover with lids or damp cloth |
| Uneven colour | Mixing lots | Use one lot per service where possible |
Most issues come down to water ratio and handling. Once your team gets the ratio right, parboiled rice for catering companies is about as easy as rice gets.
Menus That Work Well
One of the nice things about parboiled rice for catering companies is how many cuisines it covers. With one grade in the store, your chefs can turn out:
- Biryani, pilau and pilaf
- Kabsa, mandi and other Gulf rice dishes
- Jollof rice and fried rice
- Plain steamed rice for curries and stews
- Rice salads and cold buffet dishes
- Rice pudding and porridge from the broken grade
That’s useful when one kitchen feeds a mixed workforce from a dozen countries. You don’t need a different rice for every menu, and your storeroom stays simple.
Switching From White Rice
If your kitchens use white rice today, the switch is easy, but plan for a short adjustment. Parboiled rice needs a little more water and a few more minutes. Run a test batch at each site, write the ratio on the wall and train the team once. After a week nobody will notice the change, except that there’s less waste at the end of service.
Many of the contract caterers we work with made the switch to parboiled rice for catering companies after a bad run with sticky white rice on a big contract. Once they saw how it held on the line, they didn’t go back.
Remote Sites and Long Supply Chains
Mining camps, offshore platforms and construction sites can be weeks away from the nearest port. Rice for those sites has to survive heat, rough roads and long storage. Parboiled rice handles that better than any other everyday rice we sell.
For remote work we suggest:
- 25 kg bags with an inner liner for extra protection
- Shipping with a few weeks of buffer stock
- Clear lot numbers so each site can rotate stock properly
- A mixed container if the site also needs jasmine or white rice
Tell us where the rice is going after it leaves the port, and we’ll pack the parboiled rice for catering companies order with that trip in mind.
Samples and a Trial Order
Before you commit to a full contract, ask us for 1 to 2 kg samples of each grade. Cook them in your own kitchen with your own equipment and hold them on the line for a few hours. Get the chefs to look at them. If they’re happy, start with one or two containers. Most of the caterers buying parboiled rice for catering companies supply from us started exactly that way.
Mixed Containers
You don’t need a full container of one grade. We can load parboiled 5% alongside parboiled 25%, or add jasmine, basmati or white rice in the same box. For caterers running several types of contract from one store, that’s often the easiest way to buy.
What to Ask Any Supplier
Before you sign up with anyone for parboiled rice for catering companies supply, ask for:
- A written spec sheet for the grade
- Samples by courier
- Recent loading photos
- A registered company you can check
- An independent surveyor at loading
- A clear contract with Incoterms and delivery dates
A real exporter won’t mind any of it. We’d rather you checked.
Why Caterers Buy From Us
- More than 35 years exporting rice
- Direct mill access and steady specs
- Lot traceability on every bag
- Bag sizes that suit kitchen staff
- Regular scheduled shipments
- Fast replies on WhatsApp and email
- Honest answers when something goes wrong
Caterers who buy parboiled rice for catering companies supply from us usually stay for years. Read more on our about us page.
7 Proven Tips for Buying Parboiled Rice for Catering Companies
- Cook samples in your own kitchen. Use your own equipment and hold it on the line for a few hours.
- Pick the grade for the contract. 5% for premium, 15% for most canteens, 25% where cost rules.
- Work out cost per portion. It’s the number your clients care about.
- Choose bags your staff can lift. 25 kg is often the safest option.
- Ask for lot numbers on every bag. Auditors will thank you.
- Set up scheduled shipments. Running out of rice on a remote site is expensive.
- Stick with one steady supplier. Changing rice changes your water ratio and your results.
How to Order
- Send us the grade, bag size, monthly volume and port
- We send a price, spec sheet and samples
- You test the samples in your kitchen
- We agree terms and a shipping schedule
- You pay the deposit or open the L/C
- We mill, pack, inspect and load
- We send documents and track the shipment
- You clear and deliver to your sites
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the minimum order of parboiled rice for catering companies?
One 20ft container, about 25 MT. Mixed containers with other grades are possible.
Can you print our company name on bags of parboiled rice for catering companies?
Yes. Private label is available, usually from one container per design.
Does parboiled rice work for cook-chill?
Yes. It reheats better than most white rice and holds its texture well.
How many portions are in a 25 kg bag?
Around 330 main portions at 75 g raw each.
Can you ship to several ports for one contract?
Yes. We can split a contract across several ports and dates.
Get a Quote for Parboiled Rice for Catering Companies
Tell us the grade, bag size, monthly volume and port. We’ll reply with a firm price, a spec sheet and a shipping plan, usually within one working day. Ask for samples if you’d like to cook it first.
Email info@dethairice.com, WhatsApp +66 81 034 6390, or use our contact page. You can also read our guide as a Thai parboiled rice exporter, our page on wholesale parboiled rice suppliers and our offer for parboiled rice wholesale Saudi Arabia buyers.
