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Buyers new to Indian rice often choose a variety and stop there. In practice the processing form matters just as much, and it is where most of the disappointment comes from when a container lands and the rice does not behave the way the kitchen expected.

Raw

Milled straight from paddy with no parboiling. It carries the most aroma and the whitest grain, and it is the least forgiving — softer, more prone to breakage in transit, and unhappy if it is held hot for long.

Steam

Steamed and dried before milling. It keeps most of the aroma, cooks firm and separate, and breaks far less than raw. For most retail packs this is the sensible default.

Creamy sella

Parboiled in the husk, then milled. The grain turns ivory and becomes very firm. This is what catering kitchens ask for, because it survives being held on a buffet line without collapsing.

Golden sella

A longer parboil, giving a deep amber grain. The firmest of the four, the lowest breakage, and the best yield per kilo once cooked. If your customer measures cost per portion rather than cost per kilo, this is usually the answer.

Ask us for a sample of two forms of the same variety side by side. It is the fastest way to settle the question.

Fresh paddy cooks badly. It carries too much moisture, the kernel is soft, and the grain does not elongate the way a basmati buyer expects. Ageing fixes all three, and there is no shortcut for it.

What changes

Over twelve to twenty-four months in ventilated storage, moisture drops and the starch structure firms up. The result is a grain that elongates further, absorbs less water, breaks less during milling and cooks separate rather than sticky.

Why it costs money

Aged paddy is capital sitting in a shed for two years. That is the real reason some mills sell cheaper — they are milling this season’s crop. It is a legitimate product, but it is not the same product.

Every lot we clear for packing carries its crop year on the report.

Before any batch is cleared for packing, it is drawn, measured and written up. That document is the lot report, and it should travel with your proforma.

What it covers

• Average grain length, measured, not estimated
• Broken grain percentage after sortex
• Moisture at the time of packing
• Damaged, discoloured and chalky grain
• Admixture of other varieties
• Crop year

Why it matters

If a supplier will not put those numbers on paper before you pay, you have no basis for a claim when the container lands. Ask for the report on the sample too — that is how you know the sample and the shipment came from the same place.

Paperwork is where a lot of first-time rice imports come unstuck. Nothing on this list is unusual, and none of it should cost extra or need chasing.

The standard set

• Commercial invoice — with HS code 1006.30 and your incoterm
• Packing list — bag count, net and gross, container and seal numbers
• Certificate of origin — chamber-attested, or GSP where your market allows it
• Phytosanitary certificate — issued by plant quarantine before sailing
• Fumigation certificate — container level, with duration stated
• Bill of lading — released the day the vessel sails

If your customs authority needs something beyond this set, tell us at the order stage rather than after loading. Most additional certificates are straightforward if we know in advance.

Putting your brand on the pack is routine for us. The delays, when they happen, are almost always about artwork and declarations rather than the rice.

What to send

• Print-ready artwork, with fonts outlined and a 3 mm bleed
• Your barcode, as a vector, not a screenshot
• The declarations your market requires — nutrition panel, importer details, language requirements
• Pack sizes and the material you want: BOPP, PET-poly or jute

What comes back

A print proof, before anything goes on press. Nothing is printed until you have signed it off. The first run adds seven to ten days for repro and plates; repeat orders do not.