Posted on 08/06/2025 1:30:51 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Rice growers in Valencia are warning that your paella might be doomed before it hits the pan – not because of your cooking skills, but due to unclear labelling on imported rice sold as if it were local.
EU trade rules and lax origin labels are fuelling claims of ‘fake’ paella rice, as Asian and South American imports increasingly find their way into Spanish supermarkets.
Valencian rice farmers say EU trade rules are ruining paella
Valencia, the birthplace of paella, is home to traditional short-grain rice varieties like bomba, prized for their unique cooking properties. But local farmers claim that many supermarket rice bags mix these with imported varieties, sometimes from as far afield as Myanmar or Cambodia.
Miguel Minguet, a Valencian rice farmer and president of Copa-Cogeca’s rice group, said even trained eyes struggle to distinguish the grains until they’re cooked. “The cooking points are different,” he explained to Euractiv.
According to Farm Europe, rice imports from Myanmar and Cambodia have already increased by 13 per cent in 2025 compared to the same period last year.
EU trade policy blamed At the centre of the controversy is the EU’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP), which allows tariff-free imports from developing countries. While designed to support struggling economies, Spanish and Italian farmers argue it’s harming their own sectors.
The EU did temporarily suspend GSP benefits for long-grain rice from Myanmar and Cambodia in 2019, but short-grain varieties – used in paella – remain exempt.
Spanish MEP Gabriel Mato welcomed Denmark’s push for a deal that would include automatic safeguards to protect EU farmers. “We want an open trade policy – but also a fair one,” he told Euractiv.
Farmers demand mandatory origin labelling Current EU rules only require companies to list where the rice was processed, not where it was grown. That means rice imported from Asia or South America and packed in Spain can be labelled as “Packed in Spain” – or even marketed with traditional Valencian imagery.
Valencian farmer and farmfluencer Nando Durá has been exposing this on social media. “After I started posting videos complaining about rice origin, people reacted, telling me: ‘Wow, I had a feeling for a while that I was doing it wrong using the same rice’,” he told Euractiv.
Durá says the only guaranteed way to know you’re buying local rice is to look for the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) seal – or buy directly from the producer.
Green MEP Vicent Marzà, also from Valencia, said imported rice is often cheaper due to different environmental and pesticide standards. “This is unfair competition, and it’s killing our countryside,” he said.
Minguet warned of a larger threat: trials are already underway to grow Spanish rice varieties in Argentina. “We survive because our rice is different to that of the rest of the world… but we can’t compete with South America or Asia regarding costs and pesticide use,” he said.
The reason why you can’t cook paella – the rice is ‘fake’ If your paella turns out soggy or soupy, it might not be your fault. “Our product is better for the environment – and for the consumer,” Minguet said. “But if we can’t help people distinguish between what’s ours and what isn’t, how are we supposed to add value?”
Spanish MEPs are now pressuring the EU Commission to explain why rice labelling isn’t mandatory – unlike for honey, eggs or olive oil.
So, the next time your paella goes wrong, check the rice packet.
If this doesn’t affect Minute Rice, I don’t care.
Durá says the only guaranteed way to know you’re buying local rice is to look for the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) seal – or buy directly from the producer.
This local crowd makes quite a lot at a Saturday morning event in Columbia called Soda City.
It’s quite good but really rich to me.
I usually get a few small containers of really good meatballs when I’m there.
The horror, the horror.
Minute rice? Ewwwwww
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