Strategic and organizational chang-
es in the rice agroindustry are focused on
new market opportunities, particularly in
light of the decrease in the consumption
of fresh cereal and the risk associatedwith
the production of a single product. Nowa-
days,riceflourisseenasstrategic.Itcanbe
usedby the industry in themanufactureof
different products, like baby foods, bread-
ed food, bread, biscuits, cheese bread,
macaroni, snacks, sauces andsoups, dairy
products and even livestock feed.
According to agronomic engineer
Priscila Zaczuk Bassinello, there is now
available in the market a pre-mixture
without gluten, whose major ingredi-
ents include rice flour, starch and func-
tional ingredients that lead to the prep-
aration of several types of breads. Sticky
dough is easy to handle and appropriate
for preparations molded in equipment
and processes similar to the ones used
for wheat flour for making breads, bis-
cuits, pizzas and cakes.
“We have examples of successful, nu-
tritive food products, healthy and deli-
cious made from rice flour, not to men-
tion other derivatives of the cereal in
countries like the United States and Ja-
pan. In Brazil, this trend is now little by lit-
tle working its way into the market and
into the diet of the Brazilian people. The
success and effective growth of this mar-
ket depend a lot on our interest and ca-
pacity to organize ourselves as a produc-
tive rice supply chain”, she concludes.
n
n
n
Strategy
W
hen it comes to the sus-
tainabilityof the ricesup-
ply chain, some cours-
es are inevitable, like
the search for diversified
rice-based products and the disclosure of
their nutritional traits, meeting new con-
sumer needs. The theme was addressed
by agronomic engineer Priscila Zaczuk
Bassinello in a public hearing held in the
Chamber of Deputies, in November 2016.
On that occasion, the Embrapa Rice and
Beans researcher addressed the theme of
using rice flour and its derivatives, point-
ing to new opportunities to add value to
the broken kernels and rice bran.
“One of the most versatile raw mate-
rials in the preparation of foods, rice flour
can be used as a major ingredient, sec-
ondary ingredient or even as a carrier that
conveys other ingredients or substances.
It replaces totally or partially wheat flour
and corn starch in several recipes”, she
said. The PhD in Food Sciences exemplified
that the use in school meals has already
had its viability corroborated through tests
that include acceptability, costs, nutrition-
al value and ease of use in the traditional
preparations where wheat flour is normal-
ly used –with the advantage of being 100%
gluten free, and very digestible.
“In her explanation, Priscila equally
highlighted numbers that attest to the po-
tential of this market niche for the rice sec-
tor, like the over 400-percent increase in
the market of gluten free products over
Theuseofriceflourandits
derivativesisarisingtrendand
pavesthewayfornewmarket
opportunitiesforthesupplychain
Versatile
andnecessary
the past 15 years, according to a survey
by Gluten Free Brazil. In 2014 alone, sales
of healthier products soared 40% in the
Country, according to statistics released by
Euromonitor. “Along with this evolution,
the trend is for the launch of a variety of
new products”, she notes. Now the supply
chain is confident in the creation of mecha-
nisms for the use of rice byproducts.
Researchworks like the one developed
jointly with Embrapa, the Federal Univer-
sity of Goiás (UFG) and the PUC Goiás (Ap-
plication of Raw and Extruded Rice Flour
with Different Levels of Amylose for the
Development of Fresh Lasagna Noodles)
attest to the potentialities of the cereal for
the industry. Paying heed to these trends,
Glúten Free Alimentos, a company based
in São Paulo, specialized in the produc-
tion of certified rice flour. It produces dif-
ferent types of flour from the cereal, like
toasted flour – made from selected brown
rice, which preserves all the nutritional
traits of the germ and bran.
Rice flour is a very versatile raw material in the preparation of foods
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