Originating in China, black rice has been produced in Italy under the patent name Venere by the Sapise Cooperative since 1997. Sezon acquired a license to sell the product in Turkey with a quota of up to 15 percent of the product’s total production, which is 1,000 tons per year. Mehmet Erdoğan, chairman of the Sezon Rice Company, spoke at a press conference yesterday organized to present the product and unveiled the firm’s target for starting to produce black rice next year in the district of İpsala in Edirne, for which detailed plant trials are needed first.
The company expects sales of the rice to reach the determined quota this year, Erdoğan told Today’s Zaman, adding that after starting production in the country they predict sales figures of up to 1,000 tons in Turkey alone in a couple of years. The figure is a tiny, he said, considering that the country’s overall yearly rice consumption is about 555,000 tons, since black rice is an A+ product and they are targeting high-income groups. “In introducing this product our aim is not to increase our revenue but to diversify our product range for consumers and draw attention to rice, which is a very special food product,” he said. The company will promote black rice, which is very rich in minerals such as the micronutrients iron and manganese, at a price close to European prices, Erdoğan stated, even though an import tariff of 45 percent is levied on the product.
