Where have all the flours gone?

[dudders]

I thought we had plenty of wheat in store, and I thought we had our own mills in the UK - so why are the shelves continuously bare of flour? Any kind of flour? We seem to have everything else. My local Waitrose doesn't know when any will come in, but they occasionally get a bit, Tesco says May 11th - so there'll be a mile-long queue that day. I'm not ranting - just wondering why.

 

[Still Farming]

Funny old World ,is'nt it?

 

[Kidds]

I believe the problem is not lack of flour but lack of the bags it gets packaged into

 

[le bon paysan]

I thought we had plenty of wheat in store, and I thought we had our own mills in the UK - so why are the shelves continuously bare of flour? Any kind of flour? We seem to have everything else. My local Waitrose doesn't know when any will come in, but they occasionally get a bit, Tesco says May 11th - so there'll be a mile-long queue that day. I'm not ranting - just wondering why.

Was watching this on the news, they reckoned its a packing problem, so many people home baking . They buy flour in the supermarket in small packets and the millers can't keep up with demand. Plenty of flour available and no shortage in small or large sacks.
Supermarkets won't stock them!. Stupid.
We can buy strong bread flour in 2.5 and 5 kilo here.

 

[Still Farming]

 

[Lincs Lass]

Ide heard the millers had prioritized sending flour to the bakers and supplying shops was not escential

 

[dudders]

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Wow - that's the way to sell it. Bag shortage? Bring your own.

 

[Andrew1983]

Some wholesalers round here are decanting flour into small plastic bags from I guess 25kg trade bags.

 

[Lincs Lass]

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Has Charlie Dimmock taken up baking

 

[FonterraFarmer]

I thought we had plenty of wheat in store, and I thought we had our own mills in the UK - so why are the shelves continuously bare of flour? Any kind of flour? We seem to have everything else. My local Waitrose doesn't know when any will come in, but they occasionally get a bit, Tesco says May 11th - so there'll be a mile-long queue that day. I'm not ranting - just wondering why.

I've still got 12-14 kg to get through.. ..?

 

[Wigeon]

Not sure if this link will work, but it might shed some light...

 

[O'Reilly]

Heygates very kindly sent out a couple of 16kg bags with a load of feed. Was very much appreciated here. Yeast is also short.

 

[TheTallGuy]

With so many people at home, especially those with kids, demand for flour has gone through the roof & the bagging lines can't keep up with the demand. Unfortunately it's not easy to switch lines from 16/25kg bags to retail sized ones. I have heard on the grapevine that several supermarkets are to trial larger bags & I have an as yet unconfirmed report that 16kg bags are due to be tried in Tesco shortly.

 

[Cjm]

I ordered 3 x 16kg bags online from Nelstrops. Took 10 days to arrive but it’s here now. Got 3 as over 45kg was free delivery. Virtually the same price as buying 2 and paying the delivery charge. Should last a while!

 

[kiwi pom]

Simply supply and demand, when demand changes quickly its hard to keep up, packaging needs to be ordered and made, packing lines might need changing etc.
If everyone that bought feed wheat suddenly told you, you had to send it all in 25 kg bags instead of bulk it would cause problems.

 

[Johnnyboxer]

Local deli has 20kg bags and will weigh out any amount for you
Plus baking powder weighed into small sachets
No shortage in Yorkshire

 

[yellow belly]

I thought we had plenty of wheat in store, and I thought we had our own mills in the UK - so why are the shelves continuously bare of flour? Any kind of flour? We seem to have everything else. My local Waitrose doesn't know when any will come in, but they occasionally get a bit, Tesco says May 11th - so there'll be a mile-long queue that day. I'm not ranting - just wondering why.

normally only 4 % of the flour is packaged in small bags and the small bag packingline works full time in normal times
the remaining 95% is in bulk or 25kg bags
adding more packing line would take time (months )and will not be needed in a few months time

plenty of wheat in store and was moving to mills as soon as demand increased

 

[Cab-over Pete]

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Don’t want to hijack the thread, but on a similar note, when I heard a local big dairy farm was letting milk into the slurry pit three days a week because of low demand due to covid, I thought maybe I would take my old milk tanker along, fill her up at the farm and park in town with a tap on the back!!!

 

[MrNoo]

My sister bought 7 bags from Nelstrops at £19/16kg, put 5 bags on Ebay and not one of them sold for less than £40
I am just coming to the end of my first 16kg bag, making your own bread is great, trouble being you just eat so much of it!

 

[Tonka]

Local deli has 20kg bags and will weigh out any amount for you
Plus baking powder weighed into small sachets
No shortage in Yorkshire

@Johnnyboxer which deli please?