Riviana Foods Puts Louisiana Rice Processing Assets Up for Sale

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Info Resources; Houston, Texas). Riviana Foods, Incorporated (Houston, Texas), a subsidiary of Ebro Puleva, S.A. ((ES:EVA)(Madrid, Spain), has put its rice processing plant in Abbeville, Louisiana, up for sale, along with four storage facilities in the state. The company was founded at the Abbeville location in 1911, and today, the company says it would be too costly to upgrade and continue operations at the facility and needs to consolidate assets to stay competitive. Unless a buyer can be found, the facility will close after the 2006 rice harvesting season in September.

Drying and storage operations in Kaplan, Crowley, Jennings, and Rayne would also be affected if the company cannot find a buyer. According to Riviana President and Chief Executive Officer W. David Hanks, the company will honor its commitment to purchase rice from southern Louisiana rice growers in 2006, and pending a sale during that time, the company will continue to operate the facilities through the rice harvest season.

Based in Houston, Texas, Riviana Foods is one of the largest processors, marketers and distributors of branded and private-label rice products in the United States. Principal brands include Mahatma, Carolina and Success. The company has additional food operations in Central America and Europe.

Ebro Puleva, S.A. is the leading Spanish food group, with interests in sugar, dairy and rice products. Its brands include Puleva dairy products, Azucarera sugar, and the Cigala, Brilliante and Nomen rice brands.

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