Local farmer, Stephen Craggs of East Close Farm Sedgefield has gone against the grain to produce spelt flour that will used by home bakers, High Street bakeries and large scale food producers across the UK. Stephen, has won many awards over the year for growing the finest quality traditional milling wheat but decided to diversified a large percentage of his 2,000 acre farm to grow the ancient grain, spelt in 2015. Since then Stephen has launched the company Craggs & Co to turn the grain into the UK finest spelt flour.
Stephen, Managing Director of Craggs & Co says ”We first stumbled across this ancient grain a couple of years ago when a local chef asked us to grow a small amount to supply her gastro pub and bakery. Then, purely through word of mouth, we were inundated with requests from other local businesses. It was then that we realised the potential of this healthy and delicious grain. Previously we have always sold our grain to merchants but we knew from the start this would be different, continued Stephen, ‘I wanted to make sure this top quality grain was only used in the finest products. The only way I could achieve this was by producing the flour myself and that’s when I decided to launch Craggs & Co!’
Other than the fact that spelt tastes great, there are a huge number of reasons why spelt is becoming increasingly popular. The health benefits are really quite staggering, it is a gentle food for the digestive tract and a powerful agent to strengthen the immune and nervous system. It is an ancient grain that hasn’t been modified by years of science, therefore the combination of high fibre, high protein and low gluten content makes it much easier to digest than traditional wheat.
Stephen said ‘Many people will buy a bag of flour without giving a seconds thought to the process that goes behind producing it or where it has come from. We are extremely proud of the fact that every single grain of spelt wheat that goes into our flour has been lovingly grown, harvested and milled in the North East, it also comes with the Red Tractor seal of approval. You can use it in exactly the same way as traditional flour, so you can make the usual cakes, bread, muffins, scones and Yorkshire puddings but they are just better for you!’
Craggs & Co have just launched their on-line store at the same time as unveiling the branding and packaging of their 1kg bags of flour. Flour can be purchased in either 1kg bags for the home baker to 10kg bags for those serious bakers out there! Visit www.craggsandco.co.uk for more information or to purchase on-line.