This article is about the full list of the top rice processing companies in Nigeria today. Rice is a staple food consumed in Nigeria and it also doubles as a cash crop, meaning that Nigeria grows it in commercial quantity for export to other parts of the world in need of it. There are many local rice brands in Nigeria and majority of the rice consumed in the country come from the highest rice producing States in Nigeria, many of them located in the Northern part of the country.
A rice mill is an industrial facility where paddy is processed into rice with the use of technology to carefully remove/separate the husks from rice in order to make the rice more edible. Many rice milling and processing companies are domiciled in different parts of the country but we shall be concerning ourselves with some of the leading rice processing companies in Nigeria today that have stood out from the rest over the years. They are discussed below.
FULL LIST OF TOP RICE PROCESSING COMPANIES IN NIGERIA
The following is a comprehensive list of the major rice processing/milling companies in Nigeria today in no particular order:
OLAM AGRI NIGERIA
OLAM is one of the top agricultural companies in Nigeria, and this is testament to the fact that they own one of the largest rice mills in the country. Their 10,000-hectare, fully mechanised, large-scale rice farm, located in Nasarawa State in the north-central geopolitical zone of the country, supplies growing domestic demand, while supporting economic and agricultural development opportunities for local farmers. Their farm has an integrated rice mill with a processing capacity of 70,000 tonnes, and acts both as a centre for improving productivity and as a vocational training hub for thousands of smallholders from nearby communities.
OLAM rice brands are market-leaders in West Africa. This includes the first branded rice fortified with iron, zinc and B-complex vitamins in both Ghana and Cameroon. The success of their brands is testament to their knowledge of diverse markets, enabling thrm to cater to the exact, yet varied standards of consumers. Their rice brands: Royal Aroma, Royal Feast, Mama Africa, Mama’s Pride, Riz Meme, Bijou and Mama Africana offer consumers a range of high-quality, affordable rice in markets including Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon and Mozambique.
WACOT RICE LIMITED
WACOT Rice Limited is a rice processing company that operates an integrated state-of-the-art rice mill in Argungu, Kebbi State, Nigeria. The mill is one of the largest rice mills in Sub-Saharan Africa and sources paddy from various paddy producing States across Nigeria. WACOT Rice also engages in out-grower farming programmes with paddy farmers to boost their yields and guarantees off-take of paddy from farmers through buyback arrangements. The rice mill is based on a robust sustainability platform, and the company produces two leading brands of parboiled rice – Big Bull and Patriot.
WACOT Rice Limited is a member of the Tropical General Investments (TGI) Group headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. The WACOT Rice Milling Plant was commissioned in 2017 by the Vice President of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo. The plant is built on approximately 10 hectares of land, and has an annual milling capacity of 120,000 metric tonnes, with silos for storing 30,000 tonnes of paddy, warehouses for storing an additional 12,000 tonnes of paddy and a robust procurement network reaching out to thousands of farmers.
ONYX RICE MILL
Onyx Rice Mill Bida, located along Bida – Baddegi Road is a leading producer of premium Savannah Rice in Nigeria. Onyx Rice Mill Bida is the agribusiness arm of Onyx Multi-Venture Services Ltd. It is an indigenous rice mill with a 40 metric tonnes per day installed capacity. It was established in 2009 and full operations began in 2013, and it has produced over 30,000 metric tonnes of rice since then. Located along Bida – Badeggi expressway in Bida directly opposite Litani Military Barracks, with an area of nearly 2,000 square metres for production, parboiling and milling, with an annual output of more than 7,000 metric tonnes.
Onyx Rice Mill is a Semi-Automated rice processing company with state-of-the-art machinery to guarantee great quality and adhere to the business concept of qualitative service delivery. In ensuring that their raw materials supply is constant, they engage farmers into their out-growers scheme which commenced in 2012 and is being managed by their expert extension officers.
The scheme has also empowered over 8,000 farmers by providing interest free loans to the farmers who in turn pay the company in paddy. The company’s products go through stringent Quality Control and Quality Assurance processes at every production point. This assures the delivery of high quality premium parboiled milled rice. Their vision of becoming the foremost rice milling and processing plant in Nigeria has seen them deploy the best milling machines for production, engage good manufacturing practices and guarantee quality during the milling and processing of rice in their facility.
INTEGRATED GRAIN PROCESSORS (NIG) LTD
Integrated Grain Processors (Nig) Ltd is a 100% Nigerian owned private company that provides Nigerians with high quality, long grain rice at affordable prices. The company has an ultra-modern rice processing facility at Eke in Udi LGA, Enugu State of Nigeria. The mill processes locally grown long grain rice at its rice milling facility. The high quality rice that is produced at the mill is packaged in 25Kg and 50Kg sacs under the brand name of Oyo-Oyo rice.
The Company rice processing facility commenced production in August 2011. The mill produces about 2,000 bags of rice each month which is sold directly to customers. The Company also produces rice bran as a by-product. Rice bran is very rich in minerals and vitamins. It can be used for food or as a high grade animal feed. The bran produced in this rice milling facility is packaged in 50 Kg sacs. The Company produces about 600 bags of rice bran each month.
QUARRA RICE MILL
Quarra Rice is one of Nigeria’s largest rice processing mills, and it is a 25,000 tonne capacity rice facility located in Tsaragi, Kwara State. This rice processing plant was established in the year 2013. Currently, the Quarra Rice Mill produces about 16,250 tonnes a year of par boiled and milled rice. Quarra Rice also has a rice seed farm on 1,000 HA, 300 km away from its processing facility.
IGBEMO RICE PROCESSING COMPANY LIMITED
The Igbemo Rice Processing Company Limited is located in Ekiti State, in the south-western part of the country, and it is Nigeria’s first licensed private operating rice processing and branding company. The company specializes in branding both for local consumption and export and they are a household name as far as rice milling and processing is concerned in south-western Nigeria.