Thomas And Thomas Rice

Out here at 12Y in Chengamanadu, the air always smells a little bit like dried grain. Thomas and Thomas Rice isn't a massive warehouse with robots; it’s just a place where we handle rice every single day. We spend a lot of time moving heavy sacks around and making sure everything is stored properly so it stays fresh. The building itself is sturdy, but it has seen better days, much like the trucks that come in and out of the yard. We start early, usually before the sun is fully up, because that’s when it’s coolest. Once the heat hits Chengamanadu, it gets pretty sticky inside. We have different varieties stacked up, and we know each one by the look of the husk. It’s manual work, mostly. My hands are usually dry from handling the bags, and there’s always a bit of dust on my boots by noon. We don’t have a fancy sales team or a website that looks like a movie. We just have our names on the sign and a lot of rice to move. People around here know where to find us if they need a few bags for the week or a larger order for a celebration. We talk to the farmers, we talk to the drivers, and we keep the scales balanced. It’s not a complicated life, but it’s one that keeps us busy from Monday to Saturday without much rest in between.