KC’s Best Wild Rice is one of Nawapo’s original vendors. While the Wild Rice sold at KC’s is not grown on Native Nation land, they are owned by Red Lake, Incorporated, a Red Lake Nation company.
In 1994, KC’s Best Wild Rice was founded by the Bahr family as an alternative fundraising product to the often sold chocolate bar. Over the next 2 decades, their Wild Rice business grew past being a fundraiser as people appreciated the businesses honest and fair price as a wholesaler. Eventually, KC’s Best Wild Rice would end up in grocery stores, gift shops and in big stores like Walmart, Super One Foods, Lueken’s and Costco!
In the summer of 2021, Kent and his wife, Joy, decided to retire. After listing their business, they met Red Lake, Incorporated. Kent has always been fascinated with the history of wild rice and how the Ojibwe harvested Wild Rice in our region (Northern Minnesota) and to have a company wholly owned by a federally recognized Tribe purchase a Wild Rice business made sense.
Today, KC’s Best Wild Rice is managed by Eric Johannsen and his wife Sarah. They are wonderful people and if you ever need to call in, you will get the pleasure of speaking with one of them! Red Lake, Inc. oversees the business as a whole and is working on some exciting ventures as we expand into other countries and work on some rebranding and updated, eco-friendly packaging!
Come check out the many great variations of Wild Rice at KC’s Best!
MN cultivated: a long grain rice with a beautiful dark finish
Wood parched: mimics the great flavor of traditionally harvested wild rice!
Soup Bits: smaller broken bits that cook quickly in a variety of dishes
Canadian Long Grain: Beautiful dark, extra long rice!
Canned: For on the go and a quick nutritious add on to any meal!
If you’re unsure about how to use wild rice, each bag comes with cooking instructions and a recipe idea! Click here to explore KC’s Wild Rice products on our page: https://nawapo.com/product-category/food/wild-rice-products/wild-rice/
