we go to great lengths to carefully select the wheat we use
to ensure we can make the best quality bakery products. Wheat is perhaps our most important ingredient, and we are proud to have been working with hundreds of British farmers ever since our business began in 1876. We now contract grow over 150,000 tonnes of wheat in Britain each year, which is the largest amount of British quality milling wheat used by a branded food business in the UK. We are committed to continuing to work with our British farmers to contract grow specific varieties of wheat which have the right attributes we need to bake our products.
Like most bakers, we do use a blend of wheat to ensure we have the perfect flour. We therefore also source wheat from Canada which, when blended together with our British wheat, gives us the perfect combination of qualities we look for in in our bread, in terms of taste, softness and freshness.
We pride ourselves on our close working relationships with our farmers, in both the UK and Canada. By building long term relationships, we are able to work in partnership to develop the specific varieties of wheat, at the optimum protein levels that we require for baking our bread to ensure that quality is maintained.
Our sustainable farming plan focuses on maintaining healthy soil and water, supporting biodiversity, understanding our farmers’ carbon footprint and engaging them in community investment, and working with our farmers to bring the countryside to life for young people. By focusing on these four pillars, our business and our farmers can continue to work in partnership for generations to come. To find out more, take a look at our Sustainability pages.
