Going against the grain
Our bread is made from Australian flour while New Zealand grain goes on animal feed. But local growers want to see a change, writes Bonnie Flaws.
New Zealand wheat farmers are some of the most productive in the world but the vast majority of what they produce is sold for animal feed while the bread we eat is made using imported Australian flour.
That was not always the case. Historically this country produced its own grain for baked products and not that long ago there were 30 or 40 mills across the country. Going back further there were hundreds of mills, according to the book, Flour Milling in New Zealand.
The country was selfsufficient in wheat production until government control of the industry under the Wheat Board ended in 1987, and led to imports by the mid-1990s.
Foundation for Arable Research chief executive Alison Stewart said that like many other industries, consolidation took its toll and big companies with economies of scale took over milling.
‘‘And so now we really only have four major mills in New Zealand and bar one, they are all overseas owned.’’
Most of the wheat eaten in New Zealand comes from Australia where land is cheaper and greater volumes can be grown. It is also cheaper for importers to transport grain from Australia to Auckland than getting grain up from the South Island where most of it is grown, Stewart said.
But Kiwi farmers grow more grain per hectare than Australian growers do because of better climatic conditions. The average yield for milling wheat is 9-10 tonnes a hectare compared to 2-3 tonnes a hectare in Australia.
Another reason New Zealand wheat goes to feed animals is because of the high-value dairy sector, and in some years dairy farmers will pay wheat growers more than mills will pay to provide food for people.
‘‘And that is because you can get cheaper grain coming from Australia,’’ Stewart said.
Some South Island grain is used for baking but those eating it wouldn’t know it, because the mills, bakers and retailers don’t market it that way.
The Foundation for Arable Research has been encouraging supermarkets to produce and market 100 per cent New Zealand bread lines but there has been resistance, Stewart said.
‘‘I guess they don’t think it’s a good return on investment for them because they don’t believe the consumer would pay a little bit extra for local bread. I think there is probably a segment that would be prepared to pay to support local.’’
Established supply chains were dominated by the lowest price. The loss-leading $1 loaf introduced a decade ago brought people through the door, but everyone else in the supply chain lost money. Now it was difficult to charge a premium for local bread, she said.
Countdown head of bakery, Ryan McMullen, said its in-store baked bread and rolls were made with wheat grown in Canterbury and the chain was pleased to support local industry.
‘‘We use 8000 tonnes of New Zealand-grown and milled flour in our baking every year.’’
Stewart said supermarkets imported about 250,000 tonnes of wheat a year for in-house and own-label bread, while it was unknown how much was imported by the food companies, such as Goodman Fielder, which dominate bread brands.
Supermarkets sold about 80 per cent of the country’s total bread and 80 per cent of that was controlled by food companies.
‘‘They decide, and if they don’t want to support New Zealand grain, the consumer doesn’t get access to it,’’ Stewart said.
A Goodman Fielder spokesman said its South Island breads were made from local flour and all its wholegrain breads as well, but there was not enough grown locally to supply the entire country.
Stewart and others hope this will change.
Owner of Wellington’s Shelly Bay Baker, Sam Forbes, is a member of a group of bakers, farmers, scientists and foodies working to establish a local grain economy.
He has been forging direct relationships with organic grain farmers in an effort to eventually produce all his bread with local organic flour.
The artisan bakery, known for its traditionally fermented breads, imported a stone mill from the United States, allowing
‘‘If they [food companies] don’t want to support New Zealand grain, the consumer doesn’t get access to it.’’ Alison Stewart Foundation for Arable Research chief executive
it to bypass the milling companies and deal directly with farmers.
‘‘If we can source enough grain from growers, we’d like to be able to sell it. If you want to buy organic flour, it’s from abroad.
‘‘We need about 100 tonnes a year just for our production. At the moment only about 60 per cent is our own flour, the rest we buy.
‘‘This time next year we should have enough for us fully and be able to offer it to other bakers and people who want to get involved.’’
One of Forbes’ suppliers, Marton mixed farmer Suzy Rea, has been growing organic wheat since 1997. Originally, she wanted to supply home bakers with high-quality, nutritious and pesticide-free flour and did so for many years.
Rea travelled the lower half of the North Island to sell her wheat directly in what she called a ‘‘know your farmer, know your food’’ marketing approach.
‘‘Then Sam came along and had a huge and growing customer base and could take away that burden and I could concentrate on growing.’’
Rea’s Ngamara Farm supplies Forbes’ bakery with upwards of 20 tonnes a year.
Another farmer in talks to supply the Shelly Bay Baker is Tim Crawley, who grows about 12 hectares of wheat, and sells it as organic poultry and calf feed.
‘‘It would be great to see the grain go through to milling flour and be used for human consumption,’’ he said.
Eventually Forbes would like to seek government funding for a bread lab or research centre where new varieties can be assessed for qualities that bakers are looking for.
The idea isn’t new. A similar movement has taken hold in Scotland.
Eat NZ chief executive Angela Clifford, one of the driving forces behind the Food Hui, said the creation of a local grain economy would strengthen food security given current volatility with global supply chains.
It could also fit into creating a more diverse farming landscape and help drive land use change away from just pastoral farming, she said.
Local grain could also be useful in government initiatives such as the school lunches programme, which is set to feed 215,000 kids by the end of the year.
The Foundation for Arable Research was also working with artisan pasta makers to trial the use of New Zealand-grown durum wheat, traditionally used to make semolina for pasta.
Stewart said the local market for pasta was growing every year.
‘‘We did some field trials and have been able to show that we can grow it really well. Artisan pasta makers are crying out for it.’’
Alba Micheli and Steffano Pessina, the duo behind Christchurch’s Feed the Soul, have been using the wheat. The pair feel strongly about local sourcing and they are the only known pasta makers in the country using only New Zealand wheat. They sell their specialist pasta online and at popular markets and food centres.
Stewart said that like Forbes, the foundation would like to seek government funding to establish the business case for a New Zealand pasta industry.