#133 The 2026 National Restaurant Association Show

#133 The 2026 National Restaurant Association Show

Join hosts Michael Klein and Morgan Crafton as they recount their trip to the 2026 National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago. They share interviews with Pei Wu of Mochi Foods who is using all California Rice, the passionate team from Riceland Foods, Steve Hilsdon of Della Rice who is all about unique partnerships, and Michael talks trends and strategy with industry expert Kevin Gross of Kinetic12. All that, plus interesting Coke flavors, flying pretzels, and more. With special guests: * Pei Wu, CEO & Founder, Mochi Foods * Kevin Gross, Senior Partner, Kinetic12 * Hayley Pittman Smith, National Sales Director, Riceland Foods * Lynsey Russell, Director of Food Service Sales, Riceland Foods * Stephen Hilsdon, Owner, Della Rice Hosted by: Michael Klein and Morgan Crafton

#132 Making the Market: The Story of Rice Futures

The rough rice futures contract is a little understood device intended to provide price discovery and risk management. From humble beginnings in New Orleans, the rough rice contract grew into a vitally important tool that has helped the U.S. rice industry compete in the global market. Michael Klein went back to the very beginning to talk with Jerry Morris who was at the table when the contract was just a concept and still trades today. Brian King explains how the contract is used, Fred Seamon talks the basics of futures, and Randy McNeil shares how the rice merchants fit in. With special guests: * Jerry Morris * Randy McNeil, President, Poinsett Rice & Grain * Brian King, Owner, K & T Agri * Fred Seamon, Executive Director, Agricultural Markets, CME Group Hosted by: Michael Klein

#131 Promoting U.S. Jasmine Rice

USA Rice's Cameron Jacobs joins Michael Klein to talk about last year's U.S. jasmine rice promotion campaign. They discuss the reasoning behind the outreach, target development, creative creation, tactics, methodology, and results. Plus Cameron shares some breaking news and offers a peek at future promotions. And given the timing, they take a look back at the 2026 NCAA March Madness campaign, that for Michael was much less successful than the jasmine campaign. With special guest: Cameron Jacobs, VP Domestic Promotion & March Madness Pool Commissioner, USA Rice Hosted by: Michael Klein

#130 The 45th Natural Products Expo West

Michael went to Anaheim, California for one of the largest and most influential food shows in the country. He stalked the aisles finding new products and old friends, caught up with several USA Rice members who were there to rep U.S.-grown rice, and walked more than 45,000 steps for the pod. Listen in to learn about new rice uses, new companies, rice innovation, and more. * www.batchfoods.co [https://www.batchfoods.co] * www.kevinsnaturalfoods.com [https://www.kevinsnaturalfoods.com] * www.dainty.ca [https://www.dainty.ca] * www.dellarice.com [https://www.dellarice.com] * www.nextgenfoods.com [https://www.nextgenfoods.com] * www.exceedientfoods.com [https://www.exceedientfoods.com] * www.lundberg.com [https://www.lundberg.com] * www.chefbobo.com [https://www.chefbobo.com] * www.oliviascroutons.com [https://www.oliviascroutons.com] * www.raisedglutenfree.com [https://www.raisedglutenfree.com] With special guests: * Bryce Lundberg, VP of Agriculture, Lundberg Family Farms * Brita Lundberg, Communications Manager, Lundberg Family Farms * Meryl Kennedy, CEO, 4Sisters Rice * Steve Choi, Director of R&D, Chef Bobo Brand * Michael Bosworth, CEO, Next Generation Foods * Rick Rhody, CEO, Expedient Foods and Farmers' Rice Cooperative * Charley Mathews, Jr., Chair, Farmers' Rice Cooperative * Aidan Anvaripour, Founder, Batch Foods * Chiedu Okeke, Director of Procurement, Kevin's Natural Foods * Eric Martindale, Founder, Elite Commerce Group * Jeff Clarke, VP of Sales, Specialty Rice, Inc. * James Maitland, CEO, Dainty Foods and Dainty Foods US Hosted by: Michael Klein

#129 Understanding Rice Grain Quality

Steve Linscombe has assembled rice breeding experts to talk about U.S. grain quality and what they are doing to improve it. From fissuring and milling yields to farm gate value and consumer preferences, join us for this important discussion. With special guests: Dr. Maria Montiel, Rice Breeder, HorizonAg, Dr. Tim Walker, CEO, HorizonAg, and Dr. Adam Famoso, Professor, LSU AgCenter Hosted by: Steve Linscombe and Michael Klein