Taming wild rice

ISTANBUL, TURKEY -- The USA Rice Federation teamed up here with the recently launched U.S. wild rice brand "Dimyat" for a week-long promotion and celebration of U.S. grown-rice.  Two of Turkey's major retail chains, Carrefour and Macrocenter, participated in the events with discounted prices for U.S. wild rice, live cooking demonstrations, and the distribution of information leaflets and recipes as well as branded consumer bags, which were co-sponsored by the brand and the retailers.

Elif  Korkmazel, a famous Turkish gourmet and TV personality, conducted the live cooking demonstrations where she invited eight volunteers to join her in preparing healthy salads with U.S. rice and wild rice mixed together.  The accompanying displays reached thousands of consumers throughout the stores.

"U.S. wild rice is a relatively new product in the market, so we wanted to attract a lot of consumer attention, increase awareness, and help drive sales up," said Jim Guinn, USA Rice vice president of international promotion.   "We focused on the healthy attributes and different methods of preparation of U.S. wild rice, as well as its suitability to Turkish cuisine."

Contact: Eszter Somogyi, 011-49-40-4503-8667

Ag news at your fingertips

ARLINGTON, VA -- Even though the USA Rice Daily went on hiatus during the holidays, agricultural news certainly did not, and we used social media as a gauge for what was hot, and what was not.  Ag stories that gained the most social media traction during December ranged from favorite rice side dishes to serve during the holidays like Maple Ginger Rice Pudding to important agricultural industry news updates.

 Agricultural research development also trended high during the month.   Breaking news on December 29 about the U.S. Department of Agriculture's decision to invest $15 million in new research initiatives, as well as information about scholarships for students majoring in agriculture were noteworthy social media stories.

The holiday season also saw many posts encouraging the public to take time to express their gratitude to hard-working farmers.

Prevalent news stories for the rice industry included several nutritious rice recipes such as green bean almond rice that would complement a holiday meal.  Other popular posts featured nutritional facts about rice and the health benefits to incorporating rice into one's diet.

"The beginning of the new year is traditionally a time when we all vow to do everything better like eating healthier, getting more exercise, and saving money.  Consequently, our recent social media stories touted rice's health benefits and economical qualities," said Michael Klein, USA Rice Federation's vice president of Marketing and Communications. "For example, a couple of our social media posts talked about the fact that rice consumption triggers serotonin, the neurotransmitter in the brain that helps regulate and improve mood, and another reminded folks that rice only costs around 10 cents for a half cup serving."

Contact:  Colleen Klemczewski (703) 236-1446

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Science and Technology

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