Riso Gallo is the first international rice brand to have produced its rice from sustainable agriculture, making their premium best-selling risotto completely sustainable from field to fork!
Established in 1856, Riso Gallo is the oldest Risotto rice producer in Italy and has been delivering its premium rice to consumers around the world for over six generations. Known to many as Italy’s first choice, Riso Gallo is one of the longest surviving rice companies in Italy and is still growing. A family run business, it is now in it’s 6th generation.
The company has uniquely created its own Circular Economy within it’s rice production, collaborating with innovative startups to give new life to the by-products of the rice mill which produces the delicious range of rices of the Riso Gallo Brand – from aged Carnaroli, the choice of award winning chefs around to world to Arborio used every day in risotto lovers homes!
Rice House is an Italian initiative in which the secondary materials in rice cultivation are used to build ethical houses.
The rice husks and bran are used to make plaster for the houses and the rice husks and rice straw fibres create thermos-acoustic insulation. Rice by-products are even used inside these sustainable dwellings in a range of designer furniture production by Mogu.
Riso Gallo have also creatively partnered with the Albini Group to develop a process of ‘Off the Grain’ dye for fabric. When the Nero (black) rice is processed for the food industry, the by product of the deep grape coloured water is used as a natural dye.
It’s an innovative and ambitious upcycling project born from the research work of ALBINI_next – the Albini Group think tank launched in 2019 with the aim of finding innovative solutions to create the fabrics of the future.
The partnership between two historic Italian companies has given rise to a completely new type of dye obtained from the processing of a by-product from the food industry. A natural colour that was born with the concrete goal of safeguarding the planet.
The production process of the ‘Off the Grain’ dye begins in the fields of Lombardy and Piedmont, where Riso Gallo grows a particular variety of black rice, which ripens between September and October. Once the maturation is complete, the rice is harvested and subjected to a series of processes, in order to be then sold and consumed.
During the hydrothermal treatment of the rice, the water takes on a deep grape colour due to the vegetable pigments that cover the rice grains (anthocyanins). Once the treatment is finished, the water is disposed of, as it can no longer be used for the food chain.
ALBINI_next, recovers this boiling water left from the rice production and cleverly transforms it into a natural dye, used by the Albini Group to dye various sustainable textile fibres.
Off the Grain is also a colouring technique that guarantees, during the dyeing phase, a water saving of between 30% and 40% compared to traditional processes.
All Riso Gallo plastic vacuum packaging is now suitable for recycling, following the launch of a new eco-sustainable, low environmental impact plastic. Riso Gallo are the first company to adopt this sustainable packaging. The Gallo Risotto Traditional, Arborio, Carnaroli, and the Carnaroli Rustico are now in packs using FSC certified cardboard outer to protect the grains.
The excellence of the products and the high quality standards of the Riso Gallo chain are also guaranteed by the BRC and IFS certifications and the Sustainable Rice Platform scheme. There is also intense activity by the company’s Research and Development centre. The focus is on the development and experimentation in the field of new Italian rice qualities, not genetically modified and aimed at minimising the impact of cultivation on the environment and its resources.
Riso Gallo is committed to reducing and monitoring greenhouse emissions and uses energy from renewable certified resources.
In the rice cultivation, any water used is then returned to the rivers at the end of its cycle.
The focus is on 0km sourcing, top quality raw materials and being sustainable to the environment, people and local community. Sustainability and a commitment to plastic that is suitable for recycling are key to Riso Gallo’s production and one of the many reasons they are known – along with the deliciousness of their products – as the Italian Maestro of Risotto.
All the premium rice varieties are produced only from sustainable agriculture, certified by the international “Farm Sustainability Assessment”. These high quality Carnaroli and Arborio grains are grown in a sustainable way a few kilometres from the Riso Gallo headquarters, located in the Pavia area, where the skilful workmanship of man combined with the best technologies build a modern agricultural model in natural balance with the earth and its fertility, respecting nature and the farmers.
It stems from the collaboration with farms that guarantee full respect for workers’ rights. And it is also advantageous for farmers, because Riso Gallo guarantees fair and stable prices which are agreed before sowing.
It all leads to total reassurance for the customers who know they are buying 100% Italian rice which can be traced throughout its entire supply chain, from cultivation to packing – a high quality rice, produced efficiently and with care to protect the natural environment.
