Homestead Organics Partners with Mountain Path Organics for Organic Flour Milling
Posted: July 22, 2015
Categories: GoodFoodBites / News from Sustain Members
Tom Manley of Homestead Organics.
Homestead Organics, a Sustain Ontario member, opened its newly acquired stone-ground flour mill in Morrisburg in late May. The original 30-inch grind stones and other equipment was acquired from Mountain Path Organics, which relocated to Ottawa, and installed in Homestead Organic’s new larger building in Morrisburg. The mill will process a wide variety of flours, from pastry wheat to kamut to chickpea, sourced primarily from eastern Ontario. The flours will be sold by Mountain path in eastern Ontario and western Quebec, from Toronto to Montreal.
Read the full story from Homestead Organics:
By everyone’s estimate, the organic food sector is booming in all areas: grains, fruits and vegetables, and animal products. Homestead Organics and Mountain Path Organics, both founded in the 1980’s, have followed and served that wave thanks to market demand and to the initiative of their respective founders, Murray Manley and Robert Hogg.
As the years evolve and generations pass, change is inevitable. Tom Manley took over Homestead Organics in 1997 to move the company to Berwick and then to expand in Morrisburg in 2014. On the other hand, Robert Hogg retired in 2014 and sold his food distribution business. Mountain Path Organics is now located in Ottawa alongside Signature Foods and Natural Gourmet.
Rather than move the Mountain Path stone-ground flour mill to Ottawa, Homestead Organics acquired the equipment and installed the mill in Morrisburg. The partners celebrated the official opening of the organic flour mill on May 27th at Homestead Organics’ Morrisburg location.
(Photo: The ribbon cutting on May 27th – SDG Warden Eric Duncan, Community Futures Development Corp.’s Allan Meabry, South Dundas Mayor Evonne Delegarde, our miller Bruce Beattie, Mountain Path’s founder Robert Hogg, Signature Foods’ Paul Gorman, Homestead Organics’ Tom Manley.)
The flour mill is the latest addition as Homestead Organics gradually moves from its crowded Berwick operation to its large Morrisburg building. The flour produced will be sold through Mountain Path throughout eastern Ontario as far as Toronto and in western Quebec as far as Montreal.
At a quarter tonne of flour per hour, the mill has a modest capacity compared to commercial mills, but it is producing stone-ground organic flour. Started in 1983, the mill still uses its original 30 inch grinding stones. Whole grains are ground in the mill, preserving the vital germ found within the kernel, and evenly distributes the nutrient throughout the flour in order to prevent rancidity.
These whole grain flours are double milled to reduce the size of the bran particles and ensure a consistently fine product from which nothing has been removed. Since no essential nutrients are removed, there is no need to “enrich” the flour and of course there are no additives.
The Mountain Path organic flours will include bread wheat, pastry wheat, corn, barley, chick peas, oats, rice, spelt, kamut, buckwheat, and rye. Approximately 75% of the ingredients are commonly grown and will be sourced in eastern Ontario. Homestead Organics will acquire the balance of the ingredients from afar because they are not commonly grown in the region or when the local supplies are exhausted.