IN THE MEDIA The long road from farm to bakery

By Scott Darkin

We all know that flour is an essential ingredient in bread, but have you ever thought about where it comes from? 

Where our food comes from is something we don’t think about too much when we are tucking in, but if you dig a little deeper, you would be amazed at just how much work goes into an ‘everyday’ product like bread.  

It all about the process

We all know that flour is made from wheat and our flour supply partners, the Manildra Group are among the best in the business. The Manildra Group have been milling Australian wheat into flour since the early 1950’s and for much of that time, has been owned and operated by Australia’s Honan family.

Located in the small central western NSW township of Manildra, the mill team bring in wheat from growers around the country and immediately put it through a rigorous testing process to ensure it meets the high standards that customers like Bakers Delight expect.

Once the wheat passes this test, it is then cleaned and tempering with moisture before the milling process begins. This milling process is staged (repeatedly ground and sifted) using roller mills and sifters until the desired flour quality is achieved. The remaining materials (mill mix) end up as feed for hungry local stock animals. 

Once the milling process is over, the flour is packed and then tested for quality once again. As part of this process, the Manildra team engage their own in-house baker to test-bake a range of products to make sure the flour is going to meet Bakers Delight standards when it arrives in our bakeries.

Once it has the green light, the flour is loaded up and trucked out to Bakers Delight bakeries around the country.

Why do we use Manildra?

The Manildra mill boasts some of the best milling equipment in the world and their staff are extensively trained to identify quality issues and ensure the flour is not only the right quality and performance, but also safe for consumption.

Mill Manager, John Brunner says it’s this commitment to quality that has enabled the relationship between Bakers Delight and the Manildra Group to remain strong for more than a decade.

“I think there’s a great relationship between our businesses because we are both family-owned companies and we can talk and work together very easily,” said John.

“Food businesses need to have a lot of trust and faith that their suppliers won’t let them down because consistently high quality ingredients are a vital part of delivering on the promise food brands make to their customers.”

“We believe we have been a long-term and trusted supplier to Bakers Delight because we’re always striving to make sure the quality is right and the service and performance of our product meets the highest standards.”