Basmati Rice

1121, Pusa & Traditional — raw, steam and Sella

CBIL brokers Basmati from the Punjab belts of India and Pakistan against the variables that actually price a contract: variety, average milled grain length, ageing and processing form. 1121 is the long-grain benchmark at 8.30–8.40 mm average milled length and the elongation on cooking that the Gulf trade pays for; Pusa (1509 and 1401) runs shorter at around 7.60–7.90 mm and prices well below 1121 for the same aroma family; Traditional Basmati is shorter still but carries the aroma and texture that premium retail and specialist HORECA specify. Processing form is the second lever — raw (white) Basmati is the delicate, aroma-forward option, steam Basmati is hardened by steam and drying so it cooks non-sticky and holds up in service, and Sella (parboiled Basmati) is the golden, most forgiving form for biryani and high-volume kitchens. We contract broken at 1% or 2% max, moisture ≤ 13%, purity ≥ 95% on variety and ageing at 12–24 months.

Ageing is where buyers most often get caught. Fresh-milled Basmati holds moisture in the kernel, cooks sticky and does not elongate — the aroma and the length only arrive after 12 months or more in storage, which is why aged material carries a real premium and why crop-year declaration belongs in the contract rather than in a conversation. A buyer picks Basmati over parboiled or long-grain white when aroma and cooked grain length are the product: retail packing for South Asian and Gulf markets, biryani and pilaf programmes, premium food-service. If the end use is a volume canteen or an institutional feeding contract where nobody is paying for aroma, long-grain white or parboiled deliver the calories at roughly a third of the cost — we will say so. Supply is arranged in 25 kg and 50 kg PP bags, container-load, with SGS grading, fumigation and phytosanitary certification, on FOB, CFR and CIF terms.