Chinese New Year Has Roaring Start With U.S. Rice

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM -- Today, the first of February, marks the start of the Chinese New Year – the Year of the Tiger.  Celebrations can last a couple of weeks, but only the first seven days are considered a public holiday when people gather and share food with rice as a major element.  USA Rice stepped up promotional activities for the occasion, specifically targeting the Chinese community in the UK who are big consumers of U.S.-grown rice.  

Throughout January, during the lead up to the celebrations, locally available U.S. rice brands collaborated with USA Rice in several promotions including an advertising campaign in the Asian Trader, a major UK print publication with both print and digital reach; in-store branding and promotional information at Chinese wholesale and retail stores; and giant full-size pagodas filled with bags of U.S. long grain rice installed at six major Chinese wholesalers.  

Point of sale materials like posters, calendars, and magnets, also will be distributed during February, and new U.S. rice recipes have been developed that will be posted by influencers on social media.

“I am impressed with the support and participation from the local U.S. rice brands in USA Rice’s efforts to celebrate Chinese New Year,” said Eszter Somogyi, USA Rice director Europe, Middle East and Africa.  “The Chinese wholesale sector remains one of the most important segments for U.S. rice sales in the UK, and festivals and events are an important part of that culture, giving USA Rice a great opportunity to interact and increase awareness and sales for U.S. rice.”  

The UK is the single largest U.S. rice export market in Europe, importing approximately 30,000 MT each year of long, medium, and short grain, as well as wild rice.  Diverse market segments here, including Chinese, Afro-Caribbean, Japanese, and Korean are traditional consumers of rice and that creates opportunity for further growth.

“The New Year promotions are scheduled for another two to three weeks,” said Somogyi.  “U.S. rice is ideally situated to make the Year of the Tiger a roaring success in 2022.”