Sorry my code is not complete.

SelectItem item = new SelectItem();
item.setValue(itemKey);
item.setDescription(itemValue)

<rich:comboBox width="100px" value="# {retrieveQuotesBusinessContract.quoteType}">
<f:selectItems value="#{dropdownListDelegator.quoteType}"/>
</rich:comboBox>

I soloved this issue by using converter.

Build the SelectItem

SelectItem item = new SelectItem();
item.setLabel(itemValue);
item.setValue(itemKey);

package com.avnet.quest.ui.converter;

import java.util.List;

import javax.faces.context.FacesContext;
import javax.faces.component.UIComponent;
import javax.faces.component.UISelectItems;
import javax.faces.model.SelectItem;

import org.jboss.seam.annotations.Name;
import org.jboss.seam.annotations.intercept.BypassInterceptors;
import org.jboss.seam.annotations.faces.Converter;
import org.jboss.seam.contexts.Contexts;

import com.avnet.quest.ui.dropdown.DropdownListDelegator;

@Name("comboxLabelConverter")
@Converter
@BypassInterceptors
public class ComboxLabelConverter implements javax.faces.convert.Converter{


 public Object getAsObject(FacesContext facesContext, UIComponent uiComponent, String s) {
 List<SelectItem> items = retrieveSelectItems(uiComponent);
 if(items!=null){
 for(SelectItem item:items){
 if(item.getLabel().equals(s))
 return item.getValue();
 }
 }

 return s;
 }

 public String getAsString(FacesContext facesContext, UIComponent uiComponent, Object value) {

 List<SelectItem> items = retrieveSelectItems(uiComponent);
 if(items!=null){
 for(SelectItem item:items){
 if(item.getValue().equals(value))
 return item.getLabel();
 }
 }
 return value == null? null:"canot convert label for :"+value;
 }




 private List<SelectItem> retrieveSelectItems(UIComponent uiComponent) {
 List<SelectItem> items = null;
 if(uiComponent.getChildren()!=null&&!uiComponent.getChildren().isEmpty()
 &&uiComponent.getChildren().get(0) instanceof UISelectItems){
 items = (List<SelectItem>)((UISelectItems)uiComponent.getChildren().get(0)).getValue();
 }
 return items;
 }
}