Milling & Baking News - June 5, 2007 - 45

Effort launched to improve rice
quality, income of poor growers

IRRI

LOS BANOS, PHILIPPINES - A
major international initiative has
been launched to boost the income
of the world's poor rice farmers and
provide consumers with more nutritious, better tasting rice.
The new International Network for
Quality Rice aims to help rice breeders develop varieties with improved

quality traits such as better taste,
aroma and cooking characteristics,
as well as higher levels of nutrition.
Once developed and provided to
farmers around the world, the new
varieties would be expected to command higher prices, especially in increasingly affluent parts of Asia.
The network, formed electronically in 2006, met for the first time
in April at the International Rice
Research Institute (I.R.R.I.) in the
Philippines. The meeting included
71 cereal chemists and other experts

from more than 20 countries.
"It's very clear from the great response we got to the workshop that
rice quality is becoming a very hot
topic in rice research almost everywhere," said Melissa Fitzgerald,
head of the I.R.R.I.'s Grain Quality,
Nutrition and Postharvest Center.
During the workshop, research
findings were presented on breeding for better quality and genetically
mapping specific quality traits such
as taste and aroma, cooking and eating qualities of rice, how to measure
sensory qualities more accurately,
and the role of substances such as
starch and amylase in cooking rice
and how they are measured.
For many years rice breeders focused on developing varieties that
would boost production and provide some insect and weed resistance to help farmers reduce the use
of pesticides, the I.R.R.I said. Quality was not a high priority, but major
advances in rice research and Asia's
continuing economic development
have created new opportunities.
"It really is a very exciting time
to be involved in rice research, especially because we can take the
new scientific knowledge generated
by activities such as the recent sequencing of the rice genome, and
use it to improve the lives of the
poor by providing either better
quality food or increased income,"
said Robert Zeigler, director general
of the I.R.R.I. MBN

Modest decline for Nisshin
Seifun Group in fiscal year
TOKYO - Net revenues and earnings of Nisshin Seifun Group Inc. were
slightly down in the fiscal year ended March 31. The group includes Japan's
largest flour milling company, along with an array of companies providing
yeast and other ingredients for Japan's bakers. It also owns Rogers Foods
Ltd. in British Columbia, Canada.
For the 2007 fiscal year, Nisshin Seifun had total consolidated revenues
of Y418,190 million ($3.44 billion), compared with Y423,359 million in the
previous year.
Operating profit in the fiscal year amounted to Y19,184 million ($157.9
million), against Y22,169 million in the year ended March 31, 2006. Net income for fiscal 2007 totaled Y12,303 million ($101.2 million), compared with
Y13,541 million in the prior year.
Earnings per share in fiscal 2007 were Y48.66, against Y52.80 in the prior
year. The company's share price closed the year at Y1199, against Y1203 a
year earlier. MBN

bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

Chocolate Chip
Cookies Rated
Best In Region

4
t age 20, owner Gordon Arthur
A
Evans offered to work for free if
he could apprentice with a baker who
had started out in the 1930's. Gordon
took the older man's baking secrets
to his father's business, Art's Grocery
& Bakery. Art's, half deli and half
bakery, has served the Erie,
Pennsylvania region for 55 years.
Mr. Evans' father, Arthur Gordon
Evans, ran the deli side, while
Gordon handled the bakery. Perhaps
best known for elderberry pies, Art's
chocolate chip cookies have also been
rated the best in the region by local
newspapers.
Mr. Evans cites raising four children
as his greatest accomplishment, but
his business accomplishments are
also impressive. Three years ago, Mr.
Evans replaced the old Art's building.
And, despite competition from several new supermarkets, Art's has doubled its business.
For Gordon Evans, International®
Bakers Services' flavors are a key to
consistency. "I'm really sold on flavors from International®. They are
really top notch. I like BLO&V®, and
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butterscotch morsels in his butterscotch cookies didn't work, so Mr.
Evans turned to Butterscotch Flavor.
The cookies became a big hit and
their sales doubled. Mr. Evans offers
this advice to other bakers: "The
customer respects two things, price
and quality. The customer will buy
product for a good price but will
come back for good quality."
According to Mr. Evans, consistency
is very important in the bakery business. "Your product can't vary," he
said. "And that comes down to consistency in ingredients."
Let International ® Bakers
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Milling & Baking News

June 5, 2007 / 45

http://www.bakingbusiness.com http://www.world-grain.com

Milling & Baking News - June 5, 2007

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