We make a difference every day

We make a difference to our communities

We partner with communities to enrich lives socially and economically, leveraging our expertise wherever we operate

Enriching Lives Economically

Sustainable communities - supporting the Papua New Guinea rice industry

SunRice has been a part of Papua New Guinea for over 50 years through its subsidiary Trukai Industries. Our brand 'Trukai' comes from a phrase in the local tokpisin language; “trupela kaikai” and when translated this means ‘really good food’.

Trukai products continue to live up to this name, providing wholesome and nutritious meals to many generations of families around Papua New Guinea. Trukai is the country’s most trusted and recognised food brand.

As the leading supplier of rice in Papua New Guinea, Trukai is proud to be the largest local rice manufacturer. We are also the only supplier in Papua New Guinea that has invested millions of kina in local rice development projects. Trukai also employs more than 1000 Papua New Guineans and supports thousands more through family networks and indirect employment across the rice industry supply chain.

Trukai’s main operations base is located in Lae in the Morobe Province, with 11 additional sales centres throughout the country, providing a vast and very robust distribution network.

SunRice, through Trukai and with the support of PNG growers in Umi and Morobe Province, have achieved the first PNG commercial sale of 100% grown and produced domestic rice – Trukai Hamamas Rice. This is the first commercial crop grown by these farmers since PNG's independence. To augment the processing of locally grown rice, Trukai invested in a new hulling mill and is now the only 100% vertically integrated rice company in PNG. Trukai is currently implementing a provision for health insurance to all salaried Trukai employees and their families.

Trukai has also conducted cultural intelligence training with managers and seniors within the organisation, reinforcing SunRice’s global commitment to work with and respect the local communities in the areas in which we operate. This training is planned for roll-out in other regions.

Learn more about Trukai, its brands and its people here.

A sustainable supply chain - connecting the people of the Solomon Islands

SunRice’s SolRice business has been operating in the Solomon Islands for 44 years, with two iconic brands - Solrais and Island Sun. SolRice directly employs more than 60 people and indirectly more than 1000 people across the Solomon Islands. The Solomon Islands is comprised of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands. We have built a vast distribution network to deliver food to even the most remote provinces.

SolRice has worked in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Medical Services, the Food Fortification Initiative and the Australian High Commission to introduce and implement the Solomon Islands Vitamin Enrichment Program. We have leveraged our significant experience gained from successfully introducing vitamin enriched rice in Papua New Guinea to the Solomon Islands.

Read more about SolRice's commitment to food security through its distribution network here and more about our vitamin enrichment program here.

Enriching lives - supporting the Vietnamese rice industry

SunRice has recently acquired a mill in the rural district Lap Vo, Vietnam, our first direct financial investment in this country. It’s an important step towards SunRice establishing a fully vertically integrated and sustainable supply chain in Vietnam.

The Lap Vo mill will set a new standard for Vietnamese rice processing and reinforces that the quality standards we apply to our Australian product can be replicated internationally.

SunRice has already expanded the mill site and further invested in new equipment, in order to increase the whitening and polishing capacity and added a new packing line.

Our work with farmers in Vietnam to date has been focused on improving farming techniques and farmer livelihoods, and we are already seeing numerous benefits for local farmers and their communities. This includes improved farm gate returns for short grain Vietnamese rice grown for SunRice, with guidance from agronomists and quality control experts employed by SunRice to work with Vietnamese growers.

The People’s Committee of An Giang Province and SunRice have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to produce seed, source and process high-quality, traceable, sustainable and reliable Japonica paddy rice from Vietnamese farming cooperatives in Tri Ton, Tinh Bien, Thoai Son and Chau Thanh. The MoU is based on using appropriate and transparent systems of communication between the parties at all times.

The MoU is an example of the kind of win-win cooperation that we insist on pursuing throughout our global supply chain. At all times, rice growers and their local communities will benefit from decent wages and employment certainty, as well as the adoption of SunRice’s quality control, food safety and production practices.

Learn more about our commitment to improving the livelihoods of Vietnamese growers here.

Supporting Australian farmers and Australian communities

With nearly 70 years of operation in the NSW Riverina, we understand what investing in our communities looks like and what it can mean to those living there. In years of normal rice production, a strong SunRice delivers close to $400 million per annum directly into the economy of the Riverina region of NSW, supporting 600+ growers, 600+ employees and 400+ local suppliers. A further $700, 000 is invested annually for social impact spending, including regional sponsorship, community engagement, as well as training and development.

We help people gather to celebrate their local communities, improve health and wellbeing, sponsor sporting teams, support cultural and minority celebrations and donate to hospitals.

Deniliquin Mill

Our Deniliquin mill is one of the largest rice mills in the Southern Hemisphere and a key component of our global supply chain.

At its peak capacity, the mill employs up to 150 people from the local community. Our Deniliquin team live by the mantra: “We believe in engaging our people and supporting our community, showing pride in what we do, within a sustainable and dynamic business”.

In addition to direct employment, the Deniliquin community benefit from engagement of local contractors and businesses to support the operation, making it a significant driver of the local economy.

In 2017, our mill won the ‘Employer of Choice’ award at the Deniliquin Business Excellence Awards and the Murray-Riverina Business Awards, in recognition of the positive impact we created for both our employees and the broader community. In 2018, our Deniliquin team also won the ‘Excellence in Workplace Inclusion’ Award.