by
Vaughn Entwistle, Managing Editor, Milling and Grain
I recently interviewed millers and bakers at a wide variety of locations across the UK to find out how they were coping with keeping their vital businesses running during a pandemic.
The two milling companies Carr’s mills, Fife, Scotland and Wessex mill, Wantage, Oxfordshire, are widely separated by geography, and by size and capacity. In fact, Carr’s mills operates three mills: the Hutchison mill in Kirkaldy, Scotland, The Silloth mill in Cumbria, and the Malden mill in Essex, England. The Hutchison mill is the largest and most technically advanced mill in the UK. By contrast, the Wessex mill in Wantage, Oxfordshire represents the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of size, but it shares many of the same issues when dealing with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Carr’s in the driver’s seat
Rosie Parker is the Brand and Marketing Manager at Carr’s Flour Mills. I asked her if Carr’s was struggling to meet increased demand for flour as many other mills around the UK were reporting.
“In terms of keeping up with consumer demand for bags of flour in retail,” Parker answered, “our mills have been running at maximum capacity, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, since the crisis began. We produce retail bags at our mill in Silloth, Cumbria and they are currently producing over 300,000 bags of flour for retail every week. This equates to more than double our production before the crisis began.
“In order to produce as many bags of flour as possible, we have also reduced our range to help save time on production changeovers. We have literally tried everything to maximise output. It is certainly a challenging time and there is such an immense consumer demand currently for flour. It seems flour is the new gold!”
So Carr’s, like so many other mills, is running hard just to keep up, but next I asked if the supply chain was also able to keep up.
“We do source locally produced wheat for our self-raising and plain flours,” Ms Parker explained. “At the moment the supply chain has been robust, and we haven’t experienced any supply issues as the result of the current crisis. A lot of our flour for the Silloth and Kirkcaldy mills is delivered by boat, because there are ports adjacent to the mill.
“The shippers and stevedores on these boats have been fantastic in keeping up with the increased demand. Luckily boat crews ‘naturally self-isolate’ by spending most of the time at sea, but they have risen to the challenge and have been able to turn on extra capacity at short notice. Probably the hardest issue has been managing flour supply to the retail customers, due to the massive increased consumer demand. Ironically, it is packaging stock and production capacity that are the current challenges to the market rather than wheat supply.”
Biosecurity is a huge consideration for all mill owners. Now that concern is being added to by the need to observe strict social distancing procedures for staff.
“As you can imagine it is quite a challenging time for millers trying to run flour mills in these very difficult circumstances,” Parker agreed. “At the mill we only have two people on shift, so achieving social distancing isn’t a problem.
“We have also worked closely with our customers to ensure social distancing for our drivers is observed when they arrive on site. It is probably the engineering department that is experiencing the most challenges, as the nature of the job means that engineers mainly work in pairs. The welfare and morale of our employees is particularly important to us, especially with the uncertainty in the country the crisis has created. We have regular briefings and weekly newsletters, but I know, that Tim Hall, the Operations Director for the Carr’s mill in Kirkcaldy, recognises a concern for the mental well-being of employees. The mills are integral to the local community and many employees live and work close to the mills. In order to help the community during this time of crisis we have set up a Carr’s Crisis Fund”
Read more HERE.
I recently interviewed millers and bakers at a wide variety of locations across the UK to find out how they were coping with keeping their vital businesses running during a pandemic.
The two milling companies Carr’s mills, Fife, Scotland and Wessex mill, Wantage, Oxfordshire, are widely separated by geography, and by size and capacity. In fact, Carr’s mills operates three mills: the Hutchison mill in Kirkaldy, Scotland, The Silloth mill in Cumbria, and the Malden mill in Essex, England. The Hutchison mill is the largest and most technically advanced mill in the UK. By contrast, the Wessex mill in Wantage, Oxfordshire represents the opposite end of the spectrum in terms of size, but it shares many of the same issues when dealing with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rosie Parker is the Brand and Marketing Manager at Carr’s Flour Mills. I asked her if Carr’s was struggling to meet increased demand for flour as many other mills around the UK were reporting.
“In terms of keeping up with consumer demand for bags of flour in retail,” Parker answered, “our mills have been running at maximum capacity, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, since the crisis began. We produce retail bags at our mill in Silloth, Cumbria and they are currently producing over 300,000 bags of flour for retail every week. This equates to more than double our production before the crisis began.
“In order to produce as many bags of flour as possible, we have also reduced our range to help save time on production changeovers. We have literally tried everything to maximise output. It is certainly a challenging time and there is such an immense consumer demand currently for flour. It seems flour is the new gold!”
So Carr’s, like so many other mills, is running hard just to keep up, but next I asked if the supply chain was also able to keep up.
“We do source locally produced wheat for our self-raising and plain flours,” Ms Parker explained. “At the moment the supply chain has been robust, and we haven’t experienced any supply issues as the result of the current crisis. A lot of our flour for the Silloth and Kirkcaldy mills is delivered by boat, because there are ports adjacent to the mill.
“The shippers and stevedores on these boats have been fantastic in keeping up with the increased demand. Luckily boat crews ‘naturally self-isolate’ by spending most of the time at sea, but they have risen to the challenge and have been able to turn on extra capacity at short notice. Probably the hardest issue has been managing flour supply to the retail customers, due to the massive increased consumer demand. Ironically, it is packaging stock and production capacity that are the current challenges to the market rather than wheat supply.”
Biosecurity is a huge consideration for all mill owners. Now that concern is being added to by the need to observe strict social distancing procedures for staff.
“As you can imagine it is quite a challenging time for millers trying to run flour mills in these very difficult circumstances,” Parker agreed. “At the mill we only have two people on shift, so achieving social distancing isn’t a problem.
“We have also worked closely with our customers to ensure social distancing for our drivers is observed when they arrive on site. It is probably the engineering department that is experiencing the most challenges, as the nature of the job means that engineers mainly work in pairs. The welfare and morale of our employees is particularly important to us, especially with the uncertainty in the country the crisis has created. We have regular briefings and weekly newsletters, but I know, that Tim Hall, the Operations Director for the Carr’s mill in Kirkcaldy, recognises a concern for the mental well-being of employees. The mills are integral to the local community and many employees live and work close to the mills. In order to help the community during this time of crisis we have set up a Carr’s Crisis Fund”
Read more HERE.
The Global Miller
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which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.
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