Facts about flour in the UK

Below, you can find some facts about wheat and flour. For more information on flour, see our "about flour" section. We also have facts on bread.

 
Handprint in flour

  • One whole grain of wheat makes over 20,000 particles of flour

  • It takes around 350 ears of wheat to make enough flour for one 800g loaf of bread.

  • There are 30 flour milling companies operating 57 operating mills in the UK. Virtually all of these are nabim members: nabim is the representative organisation for the UK flour milling industry, www.nabim.org.uk

  • UK flour millers use over 5.5 million tonnes of wheat each year to produce nearly 4.5 million tonnes of flour. Source: DEFRA/nabim

  • 85% of flour in the UK is milled from wheat also grown in the UK. Home grown grains, blended with small amounts of imported wheat, and the unsurpassed skill and efficiency of our millers, means that Britain is consistently producing exceptional flours

  • Breadmaking flour accounts for just over 60% of UK flour production

  • UK flour consumption per capita was about 74kg in 2008/9.