Company: Ciranda, Inc.

Website: www.ciranda.com

Ingredient Snapshot: Continuing its efforts to promote sustainability and economic fairness for all, Ciranda, Inc. has announced a new partnership with Matco Foods to produce and distribute organic brown rice syrup and organic clarified brown rice syrup in the U.S. food and beverage markets.

Matco is a leading rice exporter in Pakistan with over 50 years’ experience in the rice industry. As a member of the Sustainable Rice Platform, Matco ensures sustainability and efficiency at all levels of production, improving the livelihood of farmers and protecting and preserving the environment. With their new state-of-the-art syrup processing facility, Matco is positioned to offer a value-add ingredient for further advancement of the rice industry.

In 2012 Matco initiated the Kisan Dost (Farmer’s Friend) Program to provide a solution for struggling rice growers who were unable to market their paddy without the involvement of middlemen. These middlemen often commissioned the majority of the profit and acted for their own benefit with deceitful weighing, unfair market pricing, and late payment. Matco’s program allowed direct procurement of paddy and provided additional opportunities for growers to increase yields and improve their livelihoods.

To date, over 500 farmers have been positively impacted by the Kisan Dost Program which offers no-cost services including:

• Continued training and education through printed literature, seminars and demonstration plots. Topics include organic pest and disease management, innovative growing and harvest techniques, and optimization of harvest times to avoid high moisture losses resulting in higher yields and market value.
• Laser land leveling to reduce water inputs
• Certified seeds
• Soil and water testing
• Regular field visits for crop monitoring, record keeping and consultancy
• Cellular phones with SMS communication for 24/7 consultancy services
• Fair pricing with additional premiums for the highest quality paddy

“We have a long history of ethical sourcing,” said Steve Hyde, director of business development at Ciranda. “We partner with suppliers who share our values for sustainability and fair-trade practices, and Matco is certainly in alignment. With this new partnership we are able to offer our clients a high-quality source of glucose, while at the same time contributing to the development of rice growers in the rice belt of Pakistan.”

Ciranda will begin shipping organic brown and clarified rice syrups in Q3 2018 with a dynamic scale-up plan over the next three years. The rice syrups will round out Ciranda’s current functional sweetener portfolio which includes organic tapioca glucose and fructose syrups, organic agave syrup and inulin, organic honey, and organic crystalline grape sugars. The rice syrups are certified organic, kosher and Non-GMO Project Verified.