The following is a statement from Alex Waugh, director general of the National Association of British & Irish Millers (nabim) – the trade association for UK flour millers – regarding the current shortages of flour in UK supermarkets and shops.
The UK is self-sufficient in flour, producing about 90,000 tonnes every week. Yet many people are experiencing shortages in supermarkets and shops.
To understand why this should be the case, it may be useful to offer an overview of how the industry operates on a typical, day-to-day basis.
Most UK flour is produced in bulk and delivered either in tankers or in 16kg or 25kg bags to bakeries and other food manufacturers.
Only a small proportion – around four percent of the total flour milled is sold through shops and supermarkets.
Ordinarily consumers purchase about 3,000 tonnes of flour a week in the shops – equivalent to two million 1.5kg bags. On average, each of the 27.5 million households in the UK buys a bag of flour every 14 weeks.
However since the COVID-19 outbreak, and in response to the subsequent lock-down, both regular bulk buyers and consumers have been purchasing much more than normal. Inevitably, existing stocks have been quickly used up and many households have been unable to buy.
In response, UK millers have been working round the clock – genuinely milling flour 24-hours-day-seven-days-a-week to double the production of retail flour in an effort to meet demand. The equivalent of 3.5 million to 4 million bags have been produced weekly by running packing lines at maximum capacity. However, production is limited by the capacity to pack small bags, so even this is only sufficient for 15 percent of households to buy a bag of flour per week.
One option is for retailers and wholesalers to stock larger bags of flour, which might be suited to more regular home-bakers. This would require a change in shopping patterns, however.
Otherwise, it will be a question of time before the surge in demand reduces enough for this enhanced level of production to meet requirements and allow stock levels to be rebuilt.
Visit the nabim website, HERE.
The UK is self-sufficient in flour, producing about 90,000 tonnes every week. Yet many people are experiencing shortages in supermarkets and shops.
To understand why this should be the case, it may be useful to offer an overview of how the industry operates on a typical, day-to-day basis.
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| Image credit: Rebecca Siegal on Flickr (CC BY 2.0) |
Only a small proportion – around four percent of the total flour milled is sold through shops and supermarkets.
Ordinarily consumers purchase about 3,000 tonnes of flour a week in the shops – equivalent to two million 1.5kg bags. On average, each of the 27.5 million households in the UK buys a bag of flour every 14 weeks.
However since the COVID-19 outbreak, and in response to the subsequent lock-down, both regular bulk buyers and consumers have been purchasing much more than normal. Inevitably, existing stocks have been quickly used up and many households have been unable to buy.
In response, UK millers have been working round the clock – genuinely milling flour 24-hours-day-seven-days-a-week to double the production of retail flour in an effort to meet demand. The equivalent of 3.5 million to 4 million bags have been produced weekly by running packing lines at maximum capacity. However, production is limited by the capacity to pack small bags, so even this is only sufficient for 15 percent of households to buy a bag of flour per week.
One option is for retailers and wholesalers to stock larger bags of flour, which might be suited to more regular home-bakers. This would require a change in shopping patterns, however.
Otherwise, it will be a question of time before the surge in demand reduces enough for this enhanced level of production to meet requirements and allow stock levels to be rebuilt.
Visit the nabim website, HERE.
The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine Milling and Grain
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.
For additional daily news from milling around the world: global-milling.com
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