Spec Sheets

IQF Rice Cooking Instructions

Frozen Rice or IQF Rice (Individually Quick Frozen) is an exciting new food ingredient now available to the food industry.  Sage V Foods is the industry leader in developing and manufacturing IQF rice product and has the most complete line of products.  The management of Sage V Foods has specialized in rice for over 20 years.  Our quality is unsurpassed.

Sage V Foods started manufacturing IQF rice in 1996.  Innovations, systems improvements, and expansion needs caused Sage V to completely rebuild the line in 1999, and again in 2002. Sage built a new greenfield plant to produce IQF rice in Little Rock, Ark. in 2009.  Today, Sage V Foods makes excellent quality IQF rice from parboil, long grain, medium (sticky), Thai Jasmine, Indian Basmati, brown, wild and other types of rice.  The company’s proprietary process can infuse flavors by cooking in the seasonings versus typical processes that only coat the rice with seasonings.  Sage V Foods also has the capability of blending many types of vegetables and offering a variety of packages ranging from 1400 lbs totes to 4 oz microwavable (self venting) pouches. 

The final cooked quality of the rice is excellent and very consistent.  Sage V follows Good Manufacturing Practices with strict Food Safety and HAACP programs in place.  The results are frequent high marks by  independent inspection companies.

Your customer/consumer deserves a much higher quality rice. Most offerings of rice to consumers  by the retail trade or food service industry have been limited to parboiled rice, sometimes known as Converted  Rice ^TM.  Parboiled rice is resistant to overcooking, over processing and hence the favorite starting raw material of less experienced rice processors.  Cooked parboiled rice is firm and elastic in texture and has a distinct aroma and flavor that can interfere with the main flavor system of the finished product. By a margin of about 8 to 1, consumers choose regular white rice (that has not been parboiled) to cook at home.  Sage V Foods has the technology to supply this much higher quality rice that comes out perfect when reheated in the microwave.  To show the quality progression starting with parboiled rice, please request our “demo samples” of our IQF white rices that include Parboiled Rice, Regular Long Grain White Rice, California Medium Grain (sticky) Rice, and fragrant Thai Jasmine Rice.  The differences are surprising.  Our ability to cook these and many other varieties of rice with or without our flavor infused cooking process allows Sage V Foods to give you a rice product that is better than one prepared at home.

Below you will find more information for Food Industry customers, Food Service Companies and Retail Companies wanting Branded or Private Labels. Also a listing of some products and specification sheets. 

Food Industry Companies. Your customers will love the convenience and quality of IQF rice.  (Home made texture and flavor after 2 to 3 minutes in a microwave.)  IQF rice can be purchased in 1400 lb totes, 40 lb, or 20 lb bulk cases.  At frozen temperatures, each kernel of rice remains separate and the rice flows freely.  This allows the rice to be scooped by hand, or conveyed and blended in high speed conveying and scaling mechanisms.  IQF rice is very inexpensive at 15 to 25 cents per serving.  IQF rice makes a great side dish in frozen entrees.  It can be used in rice bowls, skillet meals, meal kits, or as a component in items such as veggie burgers, egg rolls, enchiladas, burritos, and stuffing in poultry.  Sage V Foods can pack flavored IQF rice (blended with vegetables if desired) in small microwaveable pouches to go in meal kits for vegetarian or protein applications.  Companies in the protein business can now easily offer a full meal.

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Food Service Companies will find that IQF rice allows them to serve single servings of rice in a simple and very consistent manner with large labor and training savings. No waiting for rice to cook.  No complicated cooking instructions.  No storing rice in the refrigerator, or throwing rice away at the end of the day.  No cleaning pots and pans.  IQF rice allows restaurants to offer high quality fresh tasting rice in minutes when requested by customers.  Sage V Foods can provide a flavored IQF rice (blended with vegetables if desired) that can be packed in single portion microwaveable pouches that are ready in one minute in a industrial microwave, or 1 to 2 lb boilable pouches for reheating in hot water thermilizer baths,  or 20 to 40 lb cases for reheating the desired quantity on the grill/skillet or by other means.  Rice can be used as a side dish, in rice bowls, or as a component in wraps, enchiladas, burritos, stir fry meals, etc.  Sage V can offer allergen free, gluten free, and organic rice dishes.

Sage V Foods uses several types of rice as its starting material and has the cooking capability of infusing flavorings into the rice itself as well as the blending of various vegetables.  The IQF rice can be packed in 1400 lb totes, various sizes of cases ranging from 20 to 40 lbs, and various sizes of pouches ranging from 2 lbs to 4 ounces. Our most popular food service item is a single serving 5 oz “self venting” microwaveable pouch.  For multitruck load business, Sage V can work to develop custom flavors and mixes or match an existing product. 

Retail Customers Wanting a Branded or Private Label. Sage V Foods was the first company to offer plain IQF white and brown rice on the retail shelf.  Our first product was under the label Rice Expressions.  With that label, we offer Organic Brown, Organic Thai Jasmine, Organic Long Grain White, Organic Tex Mex, and Organic Pilaf in 6 inch by 6 inch cartons containing 10 oz microwaveable pouches.  These products introduced in 2002 were the first “self venting”, now called “steamable” pouches on the market.  Our tremendous  success with private labels at a few select retail grocery chains generated the excitement that caused IQF white and brown rice to now be offered at most of the grocery chains in the country.  From 2006 until 2009, our plant was sold out and we were not able to offer our products to the many grocery chains that requested our assistance. Fortunately, in late 2009 Sage V Foods opened a new modern plant located in Little Rock, Arkansas that greatly expanded our capacity to offer IQF rice.

Most of the current branded and private label frozen rices offered by other companies are made with parboiled white rice and parboiled brown rice due to the ease of processing and its ability to be manufactured on standard vegetable processing equipment.  These types of rice would not be the first choice of consumers when given an option.  Sage V is a dedicated rice processor and our proprietary technology that allows us to offer much higher quality products such as Long Grain White Rice, California Medium Grain White Rice, and Thai Jasmine.  Our technology also allows us to infuse cook our seasonings into the rice itself (not just dry coating the frozen rice with a seasoning blend) and we can add a variety of vegetables.

We can offer many types of packaging solutions;  from  3-10 oz microwaveable pouches (self venting) packed in a 6X6 inch printed carton to individual microwaveable printed packages ready for the shelf (like the Birdseye branded “steamable” pouches).  Other options include larger bags with recloseable zippers where the desired quantity of rice can be poured out as needed by the consumer, and other unique alternatives for club stores.