Companies We Admire: King Arthur Flour

Did you know that King Arthur Flour is America’s oldest flour company, starting in Boston in 1790? For 225 years they have delivered pure, high-quality flour and baking supplies to customers nationwide through grocery stores, online store, and their Baker’s Catalogue. The company offers a wide-variety of flours, but they have five staples that can be found in grocery stores, including Unbleached All-Purpose, Unbleached Enriched Self-Rising, Unbleached White Whole Wheat, Premium Whole Wheat, and Unbleached Bread Flours. Their flours are non-GMO and from U.S. grown wheat. Since 2004 they have been 100% employee owned, in 2007 they became a founding B (Beneficial) Corporation, and in 2014 they joined 1% for the Planet. Their flagship campus in Norwich, Vermont features a Bakery and Café, Baker’s Store, and Baking Education center – and even a café! 

King Arthur Flour takes social responsibility seriously. With over 22 decades of industry experience, they continue to thrive by focusing their efforts in four core areas: environment, employees, products, and community. From an environmental standpoint, the company has focused on small and large projects – from recycling, composting, and reducing their energy use at their Vermont-based facilities to looking at their supply chain and holding their partners accountable. As a member of 1% for the Planet, one percent of all their profits from their whole wheat flours goes toward supporting environmental causes. The company has maintained a great corporate culture and is consistently on lists for best places to work on the state and national levels. Their employee-owners are able to come together and help the community with one of their generous benefits – 40 hours of paid volunteer time per year. We spoke with Katie from King Arthur Flour to learn more: 

What drives your company to continue making the products you do – in the way that you do? 

We are all bakers and we do not bring products to the market that we do not stand behind and use ourselves. One example – when we were developing our gluten-free line we took over three years to develop and conducted nearly 300 tests. 

What makes your company unique? 

Being 100% employee-owned creates a unique work environment that embraces respect, trust, and open communication; and it also empowers employees to fulfill their goals through honest, hard work. 

Tell us more about your core mission and principles. 

King Arthur Flour’s mission is to provide the highest quality products, and be an inspiration and resource for baking education for bakers, worldwide. 

What does environmental responsibility mean to you? 

We look at environmental responsibility as part of our company’s ethos. We are constantly taking actionable steps and recognize what can and should be changed in the future. We understand that environmental responsibility can be challenging, but we are determined to defy the norm and be extraordinary.