Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited) (Parenthetical) (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Current assets:
Accounts receivable, allowance for doubtful accounts	$ 512	$ 574
Equity attributable to RiceBran Technologies shareholders:
Preferred stock, shares authorized (in shares)	20,000,000	20,000,000
Preferred stock, shares issued (in shares)	0	0
Common stock, par value (in dollars per share)	$ 0	$ 0
Common stock, shares authorized (in shares)	25,000,000	25,000,000
Common stock, shares issued (in shares)	9,386,822	9,383,571
Common stock, shares outstanding (in shares)	9,386,822	9,383,571
Variable Interest Entity [Member]
Current assets:
Accounts receivable, variable interest entity restricted	1,727	1,980
Variable interest entity restricted portion of property, net	2,945	3,727
Current liabilities:
Nonrecourse portion of current maturities of long-term debt	3,877	4,758
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt, less current portion variable interest entity nonrecourse	$ 5,022	$ 6,203