ARLINGTON, VA – They used to say, “the sun never sets on the British Empire,” and it barely sets on the markets USA Rice’s Eszter Somogyi oversees and works in on behalf of the U.S. rice industry. From the Middle East, across Turkey and Europe, and over the Atlantic Ocean to U.S. suppliers, Somogyi’s clients and customers span 14 time zones. How she keeps it all straight and what she does in each market are the main topics of the current episode on
The Rice Stuff podcast, that debuted this week.
“My markets vary greatly in custom and preference, but the common thread through them all is that food helps bring families and friends together, and high quality, dependable U.S. rice is perfectly suited to be a part of it all,” explained Somogyi, USA Rice director of Europe, Middle East and Africa.
“Eszter was a great guest with so many interesting programs, I feel like we just scratched the surface of what she’s doing on behalf of U.S. rice,” said Michael Klein, vice president of communications and domestic promotion and one of the podcast hosts.
Like her domestic counterpart, Somogyi talked about how the COVID-19 pandemic forced shifts in tactics and what the future of promotions could look like.
Klein and co-host Lesley Dixon took the opportunity of having an international guest to talk about some of their own international travel and how some U.S. brands change their names when they make the trek overseas. All that plus movie quotes and Ricky Rice trivia in this episode.
New episodes of
The Rice Stuff are published on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month and can be found on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher. All episodes and additional information can be found on the podcast’s dedicated website at
thericestuffpodcast.com. The site includes a “Podcast 101” section on the “About” page for people new to the medium and a means to reach out to the show hosts and guests via the “Talk to Us” button.