Whenever I am asked to describe our company to an inquiring party, I say we are a niche player in one of the most basic industries in the Food chain.  It is with some measure of pride that I recount our role in the early days of Artisan Baking, the Organic movement, and most recently in developing products for the Health and Wellness space.  Our success over the past twenty five years can be attributed in no small measure to the happy accident of being headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, and being influenced by a wide array of committed “foodies”.  In the early years, our pursuit of the “perfect” wheat for our Artisan bakers engendered an early fascination with WHITE WHEAT.  We have tested dozens of varieties over the past 15 years and remain enthralled by the category.  Many of our growers were willing to take a chance with this new wheat variety if we were willing to underwrite the process.  We are gratified to see that our early assessment of White Wheat as possessing a more desirable flavor profile is now being validated by the marketplace.

       Years of experimentation with White Wheat have confirmed that, as with Red Wheat, all varieties of White Wheat are not created equal.  We are convinced that certain genetic varieties are better suited for specific applications and that milling technique is equally important in obtaining the optimum result.  We can turn superior wheat into less than stellar flour with improper milling.  What is important to the Mill Manager may not necessarily be important to the baker or food manufacturer.  At Cook, we start with Identity Preserved wheat varieties and insist on very exacting tolerances in our finished product.

      We are very excited about the growing trend to replace refined flour with whole grain flour by a wide array of bread bakers and food manufacturers.  Any product that is being made with Whole Wheat flour milled from Red wheat can be made more palatable by substituting White Whole wheat in the formula.  As a parent of a young child who has rejected traditional Red Whole wheat in the past, I am excited about being able to offer her a more healthy pizza, tortilla, pasta, and bread as these products appear in greater frequency on our grocery shelf.