Rice is the staple food of more than half the world’s population. In Asia alone more than two billion people depend on rice and its sub-products for between 60 and 70 per cent of their calorie intake. Consolidation of the US company American Rice, Inc. (ARI) within the SOS Group in 2004 meant that packaging and distributing rice became the second most important contributor to Group sales. Our rice activity is global, with inputs sourced from two of the three main regions of the world, Europe and America.

Spanish market

The company markets rice in Spain by means of its well-known hundred-year-old brand SOS, the top seller in Spain.

The depth of our knowledge of the raw material, the result of a century's experience of the rice industry, and the significant efforts in R&D+i now being made by the SOS Group explain why the company has opted for variety and innovation in its rice product catalogue.

Backed by the popularity of its now ubiquitous ‘SOS Clásico’, the most widely used rice in Spain, intimately associated with the typical and equally ubiquitous Valencian dish paella, the frequent updates of this product over recent years have always met with a wide welcome.

Also, combining the twin goals of speedy preparation and food with a difference, in 2003 SOS launched its segment of pre-prepared rice dishes, SOS SABOR.ES, genuine rice dishes ready to eat in just three minutes.

“IF IT’S SOS, IT’S GOOD” was – and is – the SOS slogan throughout its first century of its existence. With quality as the starting point and variety and innovation as targets, this brand has become a landmark for consumers of what can only be described as a prime component of the Mediterranean diet, rice.

US market

The SOS brands in the United States rank the Group as the third-biggest seller nationwide. In several parts of the country, they are already the leaders. 75% of sales of brands such as COMET, ADOLPHUS and BLUE RIBBON take place in ten regions, those where most rice is consumed, occupying the number-one spot on supermarket shelves and permitting a sizeable premium on the price of the white-label product.

In order to consolidate the front-rank position of these brands, in 2005 COMET and ADOLPHUS stepped up distribution of pre-prepared rice dishes in what Americans call ‘doypacks’, specially adapted bags suitable for being popped straight into the microwave. These launches took place in the south-east of the country in the case of COMET and in Texas in the case of ADOLPHUS.

Mexican market

Group presence in the Mexican retail rice market is by means of the brands TROPICO and, to a greater extent, SOS.

The marketing strategy adopted in Mexico is to focus on the up-to-date distribution channels at the expense of traditional means of distributing products around the country. The choice proved a good one, and the SOS brand is now an undisputed reference point in this market.

Portuguese market

The Group’s rice activities in Portugal are articulated in the main through the brands LORISA and SALUDAES. In fact the latter brand was the one chosen as the base for the launch of the SABOR.ES range of pre-prepared rice dishes, for which speed of preparation and no-nonsense handling are the key factors.

Dutch market

In early 2006 the SOS Group incorporated the leading Dutch brand LASSIE within the Group, together with the production facility, plant and equipment, stocks, and an agreement to honour various contracts with clients and suppliers.

As a result of the deal the SOS Group strengthened its position in rice in Europe with a leading brand having a market share of 45% in the Netherlands and offering numerous synergies in terms of distribution and sourcing. It also offered an ideal launching platform for Northern and Eastern Europe. In the Netherlands itself LASSIE provides the ideal complement for two other SOS product lines, the olive oil and table olives marketed under the brand CARBONELL, which now occupy second and first sales positions in their respective segments.

Rest of the world

Rice exports from Spain are mainly conducted under the SOS brand, now present in over 30 different countries and enjoying strong, sometimes top, selling positions in many of them, this being the case in Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Syria, Jordan and Algeria.

Consolidation of the US rice company ARI in 2004 greatly aided the international presence of the SOS Group in world rice distribution, as ARI has brands such as ABU BINT and CINTA AZUL the first being a leader in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States, the second in Puerto Rico and elsewhere in the Caribbean.

To further enhance its international presence, the Group has rice plantations in French Guyana, affording it a strategic position to address distribution in the French-speaking Caribbean and surrounding areas, with significant logistic advantages.