Ebro Foods subsidiary Riviana Foods has unveiled plans to invest $15m to enhance the instant rice production capacity at its facility in Memphis, Tennessee, US.

The investment will be used to renovate and upgrade existing processing lines, controls, and the rice transfer system.

The upgrade will see the replacement of a dedicated production line for instant brown rice with new and advanced equipment.

The investments will also be used to increase reliability, volume output, productivity and efficiency, as well as advance the sustainability of the production process.

Riviana Foods president and CEO Enrique Zaragoza said: “This is an exciting time for Riviana and our employees as we continue to improve our operations to meet or exceed customer needs in the years to come.

“In addition, we look forward to many more years of successful partnership between Riviana and the community.”

The project is expected to be completed in the third quarter.

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Riviana Foods is engaged in the processing and distribution of branded and private label rice products.

It also processes, markets and distributes fresh and dry pasta products from the Olivieri and Garofalo brands.

In November 2019, Riviana Foods increased the production capacity of its microwaveable rice products by investing in its ready-to-serve rice plant in Memphis.

The company has made a $27m investment to double the production capacity at the facility.

Riviana’s microwaveable rice products are sold under the Minute Rice brand and are available in 19 different varieties.