Vietnamese rice surpasses India and Cambodia to win top prize at 2023 World's Best Rice Contest

At the 2023 Global Rice Trade Conference organized by The Rice Trader in the Philippines, Vietnamese rice was honored with the First Prize for " World 's Best Rice". Second and Third prizes went to Cambodian and Indian rice, respectively.

Gạo Việt Nam vượt Ấn Độ, Campuchia thắng giải cao nhất ở Cuộc thi gạo ngon nhất thế giới năm 2023

The Rice Trader organizers honored Vietnamese rice as the winner of the "World's Best Rice 2023" competition. (Source: Loc Troi).

The fact that Vietnamese rice has once again been honored with the top prize at a world-class rice competition is another positive sign for the development of the Vietnamese rice brand, giving rice exports more hope for future growth.

According to information from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, this year, three Vietnamese businesses participated in the competition with six types of rice: Ho Quang Tri Private Enterprise competed with ST24 and ST25 rice; Loc Troi Group competed with Loc Troi 28 and Nang Hoa 9 rice; and Thai Binh Seed Group competed with TBR39 and TBR39_1 rice. Therefore, the Organizing Committee honored Vietnamese rice as a whole, not a specific type of rice from any particular company.

Held within the framework of the 15th Annual TRT World Rice Conference 2023 in Cebu, Philippines, on November 30th, The Rice Trader organizing committee officially honored Vietnam as the number one winner of "World's Best Rice 2023". Three Vietnamese rice producers, Loc Troi Group, Thaibinh Seed, and Ho Quang Tri private enterprise, with six rice varieties competing, brought home this prestigious award for Vietnamese rice.

According to the announcement of The Rice Trader on December 1, the "World's Best Rice 2023" contest gathered more than 30 rice varieties from 10 countries including Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, India, Philippines... As a result, the top 3 finalists were Cambodia (champion in 2022) with fragrant rice, Vietnam (former champion) with fragrant rice and for the first time India entered the final with Basmati rice.

Jeremy Zwinger, Chairman of The Rice Trader, affirmed: "The winner of the 'World's Best Rice' award was unanimously chosen by all the chef judges in the competition (via secret ballot). The outstanding winner of World's Best Rice 2023 is Vietnam, and we extend our deepest congratulations to the Vietnamese rice industry for its tireless efforts to reach this level, along with the tremendous efforts of all individuals."

In fact, being honored with the "Best Rice" award has helped Vietnamese rice brands become more widely known. For example, ST25 rice, immediately after being named the world's best rice in 2019, has been continuously exported to demanding markets such as the UK, Australia, and Japan, with quantities exceeding demand.

Loc Troi Group also had its Hat Ngoc Troi rice, which was ranked among the top 3 best-tasting rice in the world in 2015, and this served as a useful springboard for Loc Troi's rice to successfully build its brand.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development , in November, the estimated volume of rice exports reached 700,000 tons with a value of 462 million USD, bringing the total volume and value of rice exports in the first 11 months of 2023 to 7.75 million tons and 4.41 billion USD, an increase of 16.2% in volume and 36.3% in value compared to the same period in 2022.

Notably, by mid-November, rice export figures had already surpassed those of the entire year 2022 (which reached 7.1 million tons and generated $3.45 billion in revenue).

Not only has the export volume been maintained at a positive level, but the export price of rice has also remained at a very high level. According to the update of the Vietnam Food Association, the price of Vietnamese rice has remained at 658 USD/ton for about a month now (on November 21, the price of Vietnamese rice increased by 10 USD, to 663 USD/ton, but immediately after that it decreased back to 658 USD/ton and remained stable at this level).

Notably, the structure of rice varieties and the quality of exported rice continue to align with the direction set out in the Strategy for Developing Rice Export Markets until 2030, with the goal of increasing the value of rice grains.

With these positive results, the encouraging story of Vietnamese rice once again highlights the need to build a national rice brand using such useful "stepping stones."

Hopefully, in the not-too-distant future, the question "Why doesn't Vietnamese rice appear on the world market under the Vietnam National Brand?" - posed by Nguyen Duy Thuan, General Director of Loc Troi Group Joint Stock Company - will have a clear answer.

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