Consumers opting for cheaper rice and ditching microwave pouches says SunRice boss Paul Serra

Supermarket shoppers are opting for private label rice and pulling back on microwave pouches to save money.

Paul Serra at The Global Food Forum 2025. Picture: The Australian/Luis Enrique Ascui

Consumers are swapping top-quality rice and the convenience of microwavable packages for cheaper grains, pressuring producer SunRice to lower prices to ride out the cost of living crunch in pantry staples.

The rice category is behaving no differently to other supermarket aisles, SunRice chief executive Paul Serra told The Australian, with shoppers trading down from pre-cooked pouches or veggie snacks from his ‘Always Fresh’ brand, to the Aldi or major supermarket equivalent.

SunRice, which is one of Australia’s largest food exporters with a large portfolio of rice and rice-based products, snacks and pet foods, is maintaining its volumes and profitability through exports and new ready-to-eat concepts.

Fiscal 2025 earnings were also bolstered by its export business, which generates around 60 per cent of sales, especially through the Middle East and the US.

At home, SunRice invested in discounts and promotions alongside Woolworths and Coles to position itself as a value offer to cost-conscious consumers.

“Within Australia what we see happening at a macro level is, I think, quite similar across many food industries, and there’s been a lot of pressure in the cost of living as we know, and there’s been a shift towards private label within many food categories,” Mr Serra said after SunRice posted a 4 per cent lift in annual net profit for the year to April 30 of $70.7m.

SunRice is seeking to innovate in its snack brands to keep shoppers happy.

The group, which has grower-class shares as well as B class shares listed on the ASX, said on Thursday that revenue was $1.85bn, down from $1.88bn. Group earnings of $147.7m was up 3 per cent as cost efficiencies helped support profitability despite reduced revenue for the year.

“There is pressure from private label. Having said that, what we’ve been able to do really well this year is innovate in terms of new product launches and further differentiate ourselves away from the traditional sort of ‘rice in a bag’, and provide more convenient meal (ideas) for the consumer, and that’s really helped underpin some of our growth here,” Mr Serra said.

SunRice doesn’t manufacture a private label product and focuses on its flagship brand alongside gourmet food labels Always Fresh, Toscano, Hart & Soul and Bare Bakers and CopRice animal feed.

It has launched a microwave cup range of flavoured rice aimed at lunch meal kits, while its Toscano pizza base range is now the biggest selling pizza base in supermarkets.

“There are areas that we are doing really well in offsetting that (shift to private label) and it is where we provide value to the consumer that does not always have to be straight price, it could be unlocking convenience or providing a solution that private label can’t.”

SunRice in fiscal 2025 booked growth in volumes through the Middle East export markets, supported by new products and an effective Ramadan campaign, while there was significant growth in US export volumes relative to 2024.

Countering that was a weaker Australian dollar, especially as large portions of its branded snacks range were imported.

SunRice declared a final dividend of 50c per B Class share, up from 45c, payable on July 21.

Originally published as Consumers opting for cheaper rice and ditching microwave pouches says SunRice boss Paul Serra