Raising the Profile of the Wheat Supply Chain

It’s time to enhance education about the wheat supply chain and how baked goods are developed.

Industry leaders in the grower, miller, and baking sectors need to help demystify the food supply to educate a wide range of stakeholders — from consumers to government officials.

That was the takeaway from speakers in the American Bakers Association podcast Bake to the Future, who emphasized the need to use education as a tool to overcome challenges — including those emerging from the pandemic — and to build on recent momentum with consumers.

“All of us in the agriculture and food industry can work together to educate people about the food system,” said Chandler Goule, CEO of the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG), who also oversees the National Wheat Foundation.

He was joined in the webinar by Jane DeMarchi, President of North American Millers’ Association (NAMA), and Robb MacKie, ABA’s President and CEO, who served as moderator.

Interconnected Nature of Supply Chain

Too often industry segments are viewed as silos. Growers. Millers. Bakers.

However, in the wake of the pandemic, it’s become clearer that the value chain is more robust when different sectors focus on partnership efforts, the executives said.

Lessons From Pandemic Challenges

From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, industry sectors have worked closely together to prevent supply chain problems and keep workers safe. This industry’s successful efforts with the government to establish essential worker status enabled businesses to remain operational.

“It was important that governments deemed farmers essential, so we could maintain a strong steady supply of wheat,” Goule said.

DeMarchi emphasized that the availability of flour wasn’t the key challenge. Rather, the main hurdle was transportation and logistics, she said.

MacKie said the industry needs to put these lessons to use in the future, including in the coming months. “Early in the pandemic we developed certification letters that employees could use if they got pulled over by state police or local sheriffs, so they could continue working and delivering products. I think there may be a need for this again in the winter months” as COVID cases rise,” he said.

Need for Joint Education Efforts

Organizations across the wheat supply chain have an opportunity to jointly spotlight the important role of this sector and the challenges it faces.

“A lot of Americans are six and seven generations removed from the farm,” Goule said. “We need to demonstrate to them how complex our food system is. Education is important because it will lead to good public policy, which helps in a crisis such as this.”

Ideas for Communicating Messages

The education discussion sparked an impromptu brainstorming session during the podcast on how industry leaders can make progress.

• “We need to educate the pre-K-through-12 kids about where food comes from,” said Goule.
• “We need to ally with chefs and other food professionals to talk about the great products we have,” DeMarchi said.
• “We can conduct an entire supply chain tour for members,” Mackie said, from the wheat fields to the mills to grocery stores, with an opportunity to interact with consumers in stores. 
• “We need to focus on public policy and Congress,” Goule said.

Industry Investments Enhance Capabilities

Companies in the wheat supply chain are learning pandemic lessons and making investments in research and development and operations.

“Our companies are investing in their production to make sure we can continue to be that vital link in supplying bakers and families,” DeMarchi said.

Expressing Optimism About the Future

The pandemic period, for all its challenges, has led to more enthusiasm for baked goods from home-based consumers, the executives said. This development creates new opportunities for the future.

“We've been on the defense for a number of years” as a broad industry, DeMarchi said. “And now we're in a different position where we can be taking more advantage of the enthusiasm. And I think as people move back towards working in offices, they won't have as much time for home baking, but hopefully, they'll remember the products they enjoyed baking and will buy those in grocery stores and at foodservice.”