A rice specification is a contract, not a datasheet. Every line is something a supplier can be held to at loading — and something a buyer cannot claim on later if it was never written down. Here is what each parameter controls, in the order it usually causes trouble.
Moisture
The single most important line on the sheet.
Rice packed above its safe moisture range does two things over a long, warm voyage: it supports mould growth, and it invites insect activity. Both show up as an arrival claim, and neither is visible when the container is stuffed.
Moisture should be checked at intake, again before packing, and once more before stuffing. Ask your supplier what the reading was at each point and whether it is recorded. A supplier who cannot answer is not measuring it.
Practical note: moisture and weight are related. A lot at the top of its moisture range weighs more than a drier lot of the same rice. That is not generosity.
Broken percentage
The proportion of grains shorter than a defined fraction of a whole grain. It is the parameter that most directly sets price.
Two things matter here. First, define the threshold — "broken" without a definition is not a specification. Second, remember that breakage is generated in transit and handling as well as in milling; raw rice is more fragile than steam or parboiled, and a lot that ships at specification can arrive worse if it is handled badly.
Set the number, state where it is measured, and take a sealed pre-shipment sample.
Admixture
The percentage of a different variety present in the lot.
This is the parameter that quietly destroys retail programmes. A Sona Masoori bag with visible admixture of another variety cooks unevenly, and your customer notices in the pot even if the bag looked fine. Admixture is also the easiest way for a supplier to shave cost invisibly.
If you are building a house brand, this line matters more than a small movement in broken percentage.
Chalky grains
Grains with an opaque, chalky area caused by growing conditions or immature harvest. They are more fragile in milling and cook differently from clear grains.
A small proportion is normal. A high proportion signals a lot you would not want under your own label.
Damaged and discoloured grains
Covers heat-damaged, insect-damaged, yellow and otherwise discoloured grain. Directly visible to the end customer and directly linked to storage conditions upstream.
Foreign matter
Stones, husk, chaff, dust, other seeds. For most export lots, the answer should be effectively zero — sortex (optical) cleaning is standard on rice destined for retail, and it is worth confirming explicitly rather than assuming.
Grain length and uniformity
Critical for Basmati, where price tracks length closely; secondary for Sona Masoori, where uniformity matters more than absolute length. State how it is measured — average length on milled grain, over a defined sample — because "long grain" is a marketing phrase, not a measurement.
Milling degree and polish
How much bran is removed, and how the grain is finished. Higher polish gives a whiter, glossier grain and slightly lower yield; under-milled rice looks dull on the shelf. Oil polishing is sometimes used for appearance — if you do not want it, say so in the contract.
Crop year and ageing
Crop year tells you how recent the harvest is; ageing tells you how the grain will cook. Both should be stated. A "current crop" claim with no crop year attached is not a specification.
Writing a specification a supplier can be held to
A workable specification has four properties:
- Every parameter has a number and a direction — maximum, minimum, or a range.
- Measurement is defined — what is measured, on what sample, at what point.
- Inspection is named — who verifies at loading, and what record is issued.
- The consequence is stated — what happens if a parameter falls outside the agreed range.
Point four is the one buyers skip and later wish they had not.
A note on published specifications
The values on our product pages are indicative export specifications — the grades we customarily supply. Treat them as a starting point, not a contract. A number printed on a website binds nobody, and quoting one generic trade grade to every buyer is how mismatched expectations start.
So send us the specification you buy to. We confirm each value in writing with the quotation, and that confirmed sheet — not the website — is what the consignment is inspected against at loading.