Why Buy Kilombero Rice
The UK's Most Ethical Rice! On World Fair Trade Day - And Every Day!
Why You Should Choose True Origin’s Award-Winning Fair Trade Rice from Malawi
On World Fair Trade Day join us and be the Voice of the Business Revolution. We do business meaningfully, putting the producer at the heart of the matter and empowering customers to help make a difference.
We are proud to be a Guaranteed Member of the World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO) adhering to the 10 Principles of Fair Trade. We, along with our parent charity, True Origin Partnerships provided assistance for the rice farmers association, KASFA to gain WFTO Guaranteed producer status. We are delighted to be celebrating World Fair Trade Day and calling for a #businessrevolution.
At True Origin, we believe our Fair & Fine Food should taste good, do good, and be grown with care. That’s why our Fair Trade Kilombero Rice from Malawi isn’t just rice — it’s a story of resilience, quality, and positive global impact.
Great Taste, Proven Quality
Our Malawi Rice isn’t just any rice—it’s a Great Taste Award winner, recognised for its unique and exceptional flavour, texture, and versatility in the kitchen. Whether you’re preparing a fragrant pilaf, a creamy risotto, or a simple side dish, this rice delivers consistent results that elevate your cooking with its delicate nutty flavour and firm yet tender grain.
“The Most Ethical Rice on Sale in the UK”
Don’t just take our word for it. Ethical Consumer Magazine awarded our Kilombero Rice Best Buy status, praising it as “the most ethical rice on sale in the UK”. That’s thanks to our deep commitment to fair prices, environmental stewardship, and transparent sourcing through Fair Trade partnerships.
Versatile, Delicious, and Conscious Cooking
This rice is perfect for a range of global dishes—from African peanut stew to Thai curries or even rice salads and pudding. It’s the ideal pantry staple for home cooks, chefs, and ethical eaters who don’t want to compromise on flavour or values.
We have some delicious recipes using Kilombero Rice on our website. Check them out and get cooking with our Fair & Fine Food.
A Staple That Does More
What makes this rice stand out isn’t just what’s on your plate—it’s what’s happening behind the scenes. Grown by smallholder farmers in the Karonga District of Northern Malawi, this rice is a game changer. By choosing True Origin Kilombero Rice, you’re directly supporting communities and families facing some of the harshest effects of climate change. Your purchase contributes to sustainable agriculture, community development projects, and climate resilience, as well of course as a fair price for the rice producers..
Click on the image below to watch Kilombero Rice farmer, Howard Msukwa show the effects of extreme climate patterns and hear him talk about the devastating effects.
True Origin Partnerships, the parent charity of True Origin Foods has been instrumental in supporting the rice farmers. Formerly known as The Balmore Trust the organisation has helped empower growers and their families to develop more sustainable production methods, to learn new skills and encourage entrepreneurship.
Women had to carry 50kg bags of rice on their head to get them to market, now thanks to ox carts, which can also be towed more quickly by motorbike they no longer have to do that. These carts are being made by the rice producer community through training organised by Howard Msukwa. School desks are being made alongside the carts.
The empowerment of women is key to Fair Trade and our way of doing business. True Origin Partnerships has supported a great initiative by one of the women, Grace's Briquette Project. The women used to have to walk miles to gather firewood for cooking, which is now illegal. They are now producing charcoal briquettes from waste rice husks. Another notable project is the provision of solar water pumps for irrigation.
If you shop with us this month and are able to give a checkout donation, in May that money is going towards purchasing one of these pumps, the cost of which is around £1000, it would be great if we could reach that target.
True Origin Partnerships Chair, Joyce Davidson recently took part. in one of our True Origin Live customer Zoom events and outlined all the amazing work being done. You can watch the video by clicking the image below.
What About Brown Rice? Why Isn't There Any?
The ever popular Brown Rice sadly is out of stock. We need to sell the white rice in the warehouse before we can reorder the brown. However, if you are missing it, and you live near a Central England Co-op store you might be in luck. Around 200 of those shops stock the rice as part of the organisation's excellent Our Malawi Partnership project in support of producers in the country.
Special Offer – 15% Off Until End of May
For a limited time, you can enjoy this award-winning, impact-driven Kilombero White Rice rice at 15% off on our online shop for the rest of May. We currently offer white rice in 500g bags and for catering and bulk buyers, 25kg paper sacks. There’s never been a better time to try it—or stock up. Click on the image below to get the offer.
Do You Like a Challenge? How About a 90kg Challenge?
A great way to make a difference in the lives of the rice producers is through our 90KG Rice Challenge. So called as 90kg is the amount of rice a farmer needs to sell to send a child to secondary school for a year. This is a great projects for schools and faith groups as well as businesses keen to fulfil a corporate social responsibility objective.
The rice is then sold on to fiends, family or staff and the growers in Malawi can choose to send a chid to school or invest in sustainable farming. If 90kg is too big a challenge a half challenge is also possible. We also have resources available for learning around the challenge. Find out more here.
Shop Now and Make a Difference
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