Organic, British, stoneground wholemeal flours in bulk in the UK

Last updated 2011-04-05.

This page is a short list of millers in the UK who sell wholemeal wheat and rye directly to the public in bulk. Bulk means sacks of 8 kg or larger, and the intended user of this list is an enthusiastic home baker who wants to stock up large sacks of flour instead of buying several 1.5 kg bags at a time.

The first table lists millers around the UK, with preference on family-owned, local businesses who source their grain from farmers in their area. If the business is environmentally friendly (using renewable energy, for example) or mills exclusively organic, that is also noted. I've linked to the miller's website rather than individual products, since there's no guarantee the product links will continue to work in future.

There are five criteria for the flour products listed on this page.

1. It must be organic.
2. It must be British, not imported grain.
3. It must be stoneground, not roller milled.
4. It must be wholemeal (although all of these mills also produce ordinary bread flour).
5. It must be available in bulk sacks to a home baker.

The definition of "organic" is problematic, but in combination with "British" and "stoneground", it is a good indication that the business supports local farmers and encourages sustainable agriculture. In fact, many of these millers say so outright on their website.

The insistence on British grain has similar motives. British wheat has generally less protein than, for example, Canadian wheat, and is described as soft rather than hard wheat. If you see a bag labelled "strong", you can be fairly sure it's a mixture of British and imported wheat, or entirely imported wheat.

The prices per kilogram quoted below include postage within mainland UK and are based on the largest single bulk sack the miller has, or the largest pack of smaller bags if they sell no bulk sacks to home bakers. Postage fees vary greatly between millers, some basing the costs on weight while others on the total value of the order. Sometimes you get free shipping if you exceed a weight or money threshold, which will be noted in price calculation.

Since few millers have products that match all of the criteria, some products are included that match most, but not all of them.

Note: The organic, British stoneground wholemeal flour from Shipton Mill is not available through the website. You can only order it by phone -- e-mail them to get the product code.