Innovation transforming every grain of rice
More than 60 years after its foundation, Cooperativa Agrícola Mista Nova Palma – CAMNPAL is preparing for a new expansion cycle. After starting operations in mid-2024 at a new 14,332 m² rice processing facility in the municipality of Dona Francisca, Rio Grande do Sul, the company is already achieving outstanding results.
Compact and vertically integrated, the new unit features complete solutions to optimize performance in rice processing, from grain cleaning to the final product. Bühler is present at every stage of the process, supplying equipment for cleaning and preparation, impurity removal and destoning, as well as solutions for whitening, polishing, and sorting.
In practice, this set of technologies contributes to higher milling yield and greater grain standardization, enhancing rice quality. The sorting process includes a complete line of aspiration, separation, and advanced optical sorting equipment, refining the grain to a high level of purity — a differentiating factor that adds to the plant’s technological highlights.
Among the main innovations are the DRDB degerminator, which recovers up to 25% of the final residue that was previously 100% discarded, and the SORTEX optical sorter, which, during rice sorting, reduces the final residue of the process from 20% to nearly zero.
To build a robust new rice processing plant, the cooperative’s executives traveled extensively to benchmark leading operations, including visits to Paraguay and Argentina. Vice President Euclides Vestena, who led the cooperative’s management from 1975 to 2020 through multiple consecutive terms, explains that the process also involved consulting industry professionals to validate the best choices.
Founded through the entrepreneurial courage of 28 small Italian-descendant farmers from the region known as the Quarta Colônia, the cooperative now has more than 8,000 members, operates 17 units across 9 municipalities in the central region of Rio Grande do Sul, and markets a wide range of products throughout several Brazilian states. CAMNPAL has also grown steadily and consistently thanks to a management approach committed to transparency and responsible resource allocation for the benefit of all producers, as well as employee development.
Among those most responsible for the cooperative’s historical strength are Vice President Euclides Vestena and current President Claudimir Piccin. “We have continued growing and weathering difficult times thanks to three basic factors: a product diversification strategy, fighting resource waste at every level, and a financial management approach monitored with extreme attention every month”, says Euclides, who remains one of the first to arrive at the administrative headquarters and one of the last to leave.
We also kept asking every professional we could which machinery was the best. And the answer always confirmed the Bühler name. Today, visitors tell us: you may not be the biggest, but you are the best!
Euclides Vestena,
Vice President of CAMNPAL
When CAMNPAL began the modernization process, its goal was to improve quality and increase capacity. Evandro Callegari, manager of the rice unit, says he is now celebrating a “dream come true”, as he actively participated in all planning and design stages of the new plant.
“At the old factory, we had to operate 24 hours a day, and we wanted to reduce that. So, we designed the new plant for a 16-to-18-hour daily operation. In doing so, we ended up tripling our production capacity. And when the plant started operating, our goal was to grow 25% per year, doubling within four years what we used to produce at the old facility. And everything indicates we’ll achieve that goal!”, says Evandro.
To enable the capacity expansion and support the projected growth targets for the coming years, the cooperative invested more than BRL 100 million in the new facility, strengthening process efficiency and the consistency of the rice delivered to the market. As a result of this project, CAMNPAL has become one of the sector’s most advanced references — an evolution built in partnership with Bühler.
“After an extensive evaluation process, CAMNPAL opened its doors to our technology and has now become one of the most advanced plants in the Brazilian rice processing market. We are confident this is only one of the first steps for the cooperative — already one of the leaders in the state — to establish itself in the coming years as one of the leading representatives of agribusiness in Southern Brazil", concludes Danilo Alves, Bühler Sales Manager.
We chose a 100% Bühler rice processing plant because of its quality and reliability. Even more importantly, because we know Bühler develops technology.
Evandro Callegari,
Manager of CAMNPAL’s rice unit
+55 (41) 3317-5100
Av. Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira 1105
Curitiba
81280-140
Brazil
