Cambodia’s premium rice gets certified

• Jan 23, 2018

The Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF), Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries have officially unveiled the Certification Mark “Malys Angkor” as the top brand for Cambodian premium rice.

The official launch was made during the Cambodia Rice Forum yesterday and will finish today in Phnom Penh.

Malys Angkor will be the brand name for premium rice such as somaly, jasmine, phka romduol, phka chansensor, phka Romdeng, phka romeat and phka khnei, according to the CRF.

CRF president Sok Puthyvuth said having a national brand of Cambodian premium rice would be pivotal as it could boost the reputation and popularity of Cambodia’s premium product on the international market.

He said that previously each export company used its own name and logo, but now we have another logo and brand name to certify the quality, standard and the origin of Cambodian rice.

“We will start doing a marketing campaign very soon on this logo to boost the rice sector,” Mr Puthyvuth said. “This brand name will help boost Cambodian rice exports and this is to show the international market that we have a common mark for Cambodia’s premium rice,” he said.

Yon Sovann, the director of Bayon Cereal, one of the leading rice exporting companies in Cambodia, said that having its own branding for Cambodian premium rice is very important because it is easy to build trust and build networks and negotiations on purchasing agreements with customers as we have the mark to certify our premium rice.

“All producing countries in the world have their own rice mark for their identity for quality and standard of rice and now Cambodia has it. We are proud,” Mr Sovann said.

Khy Muny, the General Manager of Amru Rice (Cambodia), said it was a good move.

“Our rice is more likely similar to neighbouring countries’ rice, so when there is no name for our rice it does not have a certain grade,” Ms Muny said.

“When we have a name, we have to stick with it and follow that name and it is Cambodian rice. Then our rice products are easily identified when it enters into the international market,” she added.

In 2017, Cambodia produced about 10 million tonnes of paddy and had a four million tonne surplus, while exports were 635,679 tonnes of milled rice to international markets, an increase of 17.3 percent year-on-year. Cambodia exported rice to more than 60 international markets.

Source: http://www.khmertimeskh.com/50103773/cambodias-premium-rice-gets-certified/