Satake has harnessed its international expertise to deliver a major rice mill with intake storage system for a local Australian cooperative.
It all began at the local football oval, early in the morning, when 10 local growers convened to discuss the future of rice growing in the Riverina and surrounding New South Wales region.
The Riverina region has ideal conditions for growing rice. The temperate climate, clean environment, and nutrient rich soils means it is home to about 98 per cent of all the rice grown in the country.
Around 18 months after that fateful meeting, the community’s vision came to life through the incorporation of Nice Rice, a cooperative dedicated to Australian-grown rice.
Nice Rice project manager Russel Ford said the company has grown rapidly since being formed two years ago, with around 30 growers invested in the business.
The time had come to build the company’s first rice mill.
“Our first Satake mill was small and specialised,” he told ABHR. “It could handle one tonne per hour and gave Nice Rice a change to get product out.”
“It meant we could get product on the shelf and start learning about customer demands and the logistics involved.
“It was a good introduction and allowed the business to train a few staff in milling rice.”
Soon it came time to expand. The business decided a second mill was needed to handle the increased production capacity and began exploring the market.
Satake was a clear contender. Satake Corporation has more than 125 years of experience in delivering rice mills around the world, dating back to its founding in 1896.
Ford said Nice Rice wanted to stand out in the competitive rice market.
“At the end of the day, we had to make sure our products were right up there with the best,” he said.
“I got introduced to Satake around 25 years ago. They make a good product – there’s not many who are better at milling in the world.”
As the two companies began working with each other, quality was the top priority.
To make sure the business was buying from the right supplier, Nice Rice sent a team to Thailand to inspect some of Satake’s manufacturing processes.
What they saw was impressive. Satake had incorporated artificial intelligence (AI) into the milling process, which was a major benefit for the growing business.
Satake senior project engineer Gajan Illankovan said the Nice Rice team were blown away by the optical sorting system.
“Optical sorting is the final step before packing,” he said. “The milling process includes Intake system, pre-cleaning, cleaned paddy storage with aeration, post-cleaning, dehulling, whitening, separating grain sizes and sorting by colour to packing.
“The optical sorting system automatically detects chalkiness, glass, impurities, black spots, lumps, brambles, or sticks.
The automated system means less people are required to operate the mill – vital for an industry that is in the middle of a labour shortage.
Flexibility was also crucial. Nice Rice has a variety of products, all of which would need to be milled through the same infrastructure.
Illankovan said Satake’s mill went against the grain, which is exactly what Nice Rice was looking for.
Nice Rice didn’t want a conventional mill, which are usually designed with a large footprint and several floors.
“The method we used was a modular rice mill system. It was one storey with several mezzanines in it,” Illankovan said.
“This had less of a footprint, required less energy, and offered high-quality milling at a competitive price.”
When it came to delivering the project, Satake took a turnkey approach. It provided all the intake systems, Denny’s silos, aeration systems and more.
Its engineers also provided advice on what would and wouldn’t work for the mill, drawing upon the company’s extensive history within the industry.
Ford said Satake’s approach made life much easier.
“It is much easier to stick with one manufacturer when putting something like this together.”
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Satake’s engineers also helped Nice Rice plan for the future. Currently, the site can store around 500 tonnes, but there is space set aside to expand this to a 6000-tonne silo complex. The shed has also been designed so that a new rice mill system can be incorporated next to it, when the time comes to continue growing.
Illankovan said this forward-thinking strategy is part of Satake’s design process.
“When we do the initial design works, we sit down with the client and ask them what their plan is now, and what they hope to achieve in the next 10 years,” he said.
“We design based on what the building should look like in a decade, which saves on costs in the long run.”
Nice Rice officially cut the ribbon at a grand opening ceremony on 30 May. With the site now up and running, Ford said the company foresees a lot of milling in the future.
“We’ve had a good harvest and there’s quite a few options as far as rice varieties go,” he said.
“We’re excited to start sending out quality products, and to continue learning, processing, and looking for new opportunities to improve.”
Satake looks forward to commencing this partnership with Nice Rice and is committed to supporting their success well into the future.
