Intimate Dinner with Guilt-Free Rice

October 27, 2017 Ruth Dela Cruz

Intimate Dinner with Guilt-Free Rice

My friend and I have a funny life goal. We just want to be plain housewives. Cook dinner, prettify the house, and maybe, host intimate parties at home.

Last night, we were treated to a 5-course meal of dishes mostly cooked with rice from Sunnywood Superfood Corporation. It was an intimate dinner filled with fun conversation, colorful drinks and well, rice.

Most often, it is the type of rice that would make or break the dining experience. I had a few exquisite meals that turned into a disastrous affair because of tasteless and rough rice.

We, Filipinos love rice. A request for an “extra rice” is like a silent compliment to the chef that the main dish is great and tasteful.

Sunnywood Superfood Corporation started the revolutionary way of selling branded rice in supermarkets and groceries. Established in September 1997, bannered by its flagship brand Harvester’s, Sunnywood Superfood Corporation continuously provides safe, comfortable and quality rice in the supermarkets. It is perfect for people who are not used to gong to wet markets (me!)

Just like how we enjoy meals with family, the company is a family-owned business. Romeo Ong, President of Sunnywood Superfood Corporation is a graduate of AB Economics and BS Business Administration in De La Salle University has always been drawn to agriculture. It was like a destiny, as his wife’s family is also in the rice business.

Sir Romeo Ong shared how the business started

Chef Laudico cooked an interesting Adobo Dish made with Rice

Sunnywood, a company name chosen because it evokes nature, agriculture and joy, started as a single proprietorship in September 1997 with just 9 items under Harvester’s. It was incorporated in 2007. Two more brands followed in quick succession: Jordan Farms and Farm Boy and with them the product range increased to about 50 SKU’s.

The Jordan Farms brand supplies healthy (black, red and brown) and specialty (Basmati and glutinous) rice to supermarkets. Farm Boy, on the other hand, is good rice made accessible to all Pinoy families with its lower price range.

A sampling of Sunnywood’s popular rice products:

 Harvester’s Dinorado is one of the best dinorado rice in the country. It is locally produced, naturally aromatic, especially when cooked, and is deliciously sticky. It is the local alternative to the Japanese rice and is also good for congee, arroz caldo and champorado.

 Harvester’s Thai Jasmine is known for its superior allaround taste and texture, and is ideal for most rice dishes and occasions.

 Harvester’s Sinandomeng. One of the most popular items in Harvester’s line-up of rice, this is the everyday, any-occasion rice for the Filipino family.

 Jordan Farms Black Rice. Among the line-up of healthy, unpolished rice, this naturally grown black rice contains more antioxidants than the other varieties. It is also a good source of fiber, multivitamin B, essential oils, minerals, iron, among others.

Sunnywood is not involved directly in rice farming, instead it carefully sources its rice from farmers, millers, traders, importers and cooperatives. Over the years, it has actively helped local rice farmers penetrate the market and thereby help improve their economic lot. It is also actively supporting the organic growing of rice.

Sunnywood is looking at exporting the rice products and making them available online. Their main focus would be to in supermarkets – a win-win for everyone – the farmers, the suppliers, the distributors, and the consumers.

We were treated to some fine rice dishes during the event – a great way to celebrate Sunnywood’s 20th Anniversary.