July 14, 2008 - 9:16am
Price of flour in the UK
Noticed today that the Strong whiteflour in tescos seemed really cheap at 48p for 1.5 KG. ( call it ~1 $ per 3 pound bag)
Much cheaper than anyof the other flours, their own strong brown flout was almost double the price and more around what I am used to paying..
I checked on line and the trend is the same with the other supermarkets. I am sure I normally pay around a 100p per 1.5 Kg bag.
Is that cheap or have I just got used to paying over the odds. ( If I buy the fancy stoneground stuff in Waterose it's almost £2.50 !)
Why would white flour cost so much less than brown?
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I buy flour here in the uk too, don't know the answer to your question for definate but it could be due to scales of economy in production, that is more people use white flour for every day use which means they pump out more to meet demand which means they sell it cheaper. I have also noticed here the perverse way of pricing up 'natural' products at a premium because if we realy want it we will pay more!! Have you tried the Kamut flour in waitrose its lovely!!! Asda sell Allinsons strong bread flour in v large bags and it equals 70p per kilo. T xx
That all makes sense, thanks for the explanation. Excelent informative posts.
Marketing alone didn't really convince me as I can't see strong flour as being the sort of thing that would pull people in en mass, cheap Stella maybe but not a 50p bag of bread flour.
It still seems almost too cheap though, it's half the cost of buying the big bags of allinsons in Asda which you would have thought would be one of the cheapest.
I just mixed up a sourdough loaf using it so I'll post back in a couple of days with the results.
While I haven't see the Kamut flour in Waitrose I have bought some of the Bacheldre Watermill stoneground flour ( which is more like £2.50 for a 1.5 Kg bag)
http://www.bacheldremill.co.uk
The only one I've tried so far is the Oak Smoked strong malted blend flour. I made a loaf half and half with a normal stoneground wholemeal and it made a nice enough loaf. Even at 50% the oak flavor was very strong so I might try 25% next time so it is less overpowering. I have the unoaked malted blend still to try.
404, or anyone who knows, could you tell us a little about the "Oak Smoked Flour" you refer to? I don't think that is a product I have ever heard about in the US. What is the purpose or where does it get used? Interesting idea.
Eric