HOUSTON — Riviana Foods, a subsidiary of Ebro Foods SA, has completed the first phase of its $80.6 million investment in its processing and packaging plant in Memphis, Tenn. The first phase involved renovating about 20,000 square feet of the plant to double its capacity to produce Minute ready-to-serve rice cups.

“The substantial increase in the plant’s capacity to produce ready-to-serve cups has placed Riviana in a stronger position to meet the growing demand of our customers for high quality, flavorful and convenient food options,” said Enrique Zaragoza, president and chief executive officer of Houston-based Riviana. “Along those same lines, we look forward to completing the second phase of our investment in the plant, which will add new capacity to produce our ready-to-serve rice pouch products for the US and Canadian markets.”

The second phase will add about 65,000 square feet to the plant and include new production capacity for the company’s ready-to-serve pouch product lines of its Tilda, Carolina and Mahatma rice brands. The second phase should be completed early in 2025, according to Riviana, with the first batch of pouch products rolling off the processing and packaging lines by the first quarter.