May 3, 2014 - 3:08pm
Opinions on Local Grain
Hello,
I'm planning on starting a grain company in my home state of Minnesota. What do you think about this idea? Are you the sort of baker/business owner/food professional who would seek out local products over national or even international products? What sort of things would draw you to buy a brand of grain/grain products?
I'm intending to grow barley and buckwheat for the first season. Meanwhile I'll be practicing malting grain and developing products.
Thank you for your help and consideration,
-Rob Barbeau, Beautiful Beards Grain Company
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I've actually been talking to someone who's very interested in opening a bakehouse with a heavy focus on local/heirloom grains. Unfortunately, Minnesota isn't local to us.
Do you think you would be offering ancient grains, such as emmer, einkorn or kamut? I think with the release (and success) of books such as Ancient Grains for Modern Meals and Tartine 3, there's been a lot more interest in and market for such things.
There's already a local milling company that is developing heirloom, organic grains. Their wheat of choice is Turkey Red, and when I grow wheat I'll be buying what they've developed. For now I'm wanting to focus on brewery grain, as the co-op I'm a part of was founded by a guy who is also running a hops farm, and he has the connections already. However, I do know that malted grains are very important to baking, malted barley or wheat or otherwise.