Bay State Milling brings a high-fiber flour that packs a nutritional punch

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Bay State Milling brings a high-fiber flour that packs a nutritional punch

28 Oct 2021

Liz Goodwin

Liz Goodwin is a Texas-born journalist and photographer. Although a Southerner at heart, she fell in love with the Midwest at the University of Missouri where she earned her bachelor's of journalism. When she’s not writing or behind a camera, she loves to cook, find new restaurants, and spend time outside. Her favorite baked goods include croissants and crackers, especially when topped with fig jam and brie.

QUINCY, MA — Bay State Milling is selling a secret weapon for bakeries looking to boost the fiber content of their products without compromising on taste or texture.

The Quincy, MA-based company manufactures HealthSense, a high-fiber flour made from a non-GMO variety of wheat with a much higher prebiotic fiber content that traditional wheat. The resulting flour contains up to 10 times the fiber of traditional refined wheat flour, allowing bakeries to cater to health-conscious consumers without compromising their formula quality.

The special wheat variety’s roots lie in the land down under. The Australian agency The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) saw the potential of the high-fiber wheat in bettering the health of the Australian population. The development project began as a public venture and eventually evolved into a commercial entity which owned the wheat variety. The private Australian company Arista Cereal Technologies then licensed the exclusive rights to grow and commercialize the wheat throughout North America to Bay State Milling.

“We started about a decade ago with a few bags of seed that we have been gradually expanding,” said Matthew Jacobs, director of strategic marketing at Bay State Milling. “We’ve been planting them in different regions in the US to have some redundancy, but also to understand how that particular variety of wheat responds to different climate conditions.”

Jacobs explained that the company has partnerships with farmers in three principle growing areas including the Red River Valley between Minnesota and the Dakotas, in the Pacific Northwest, and in the desert region. The farmers often opt into the growing program because they believe in better nutrition from the farm and see the benefits of growing a high-amylose wheat, even though it has a lower productivity yield than traditional wheat. Because of this, the farmers are paid a premium as a trade-off. This not only puts more money in the farmers’ pocket but also allows Bay State Milling to maintain a high level of quality control as they coach the farmers through specific growing techniques and expectations.

“We started about a decade ago with a few bags of seed that we have been gradually expanding,” said Matthew Jacobs, director of strategic marketing at Bay State Milling. “We’ve been planting them in different regions in the US to have some redundancy, but also to understand how that particular variety of wheat responds to different climate conditions.”

“It’s an identity-preserved supply chain, so we can vouch for exactly which farms our grain is coming from,” Jacobs said. “The vast majority of wheat has been optimized for field growth which is more money in the farmers pocket but less nutrition in a consumers body. So that’s the trade-off and we pay farmers a little more in recognition for that.”

When it comes to incorporating the high-fiber flour into commercially produced baked goods, Jacobs said there is a world of opportunity. The company can use its R&D capabilities and work with its customers on formulation to expedite the process and understand how the flour reacts with other ingredients. A few companies have already jumped on board, including Enlightened with its low-sugar ready-to-bake cookies and Golden Home Bakery Products’ Ultra-Thin pizza crust.

“That’s a big role we often play with our customers,” Jacobs said. “And it’s really just about fast-tracking the process. The flour is very versatile, and it’s not too challenging to work with.”

Jacobs said that the company recommends starting with a 25-50% replacement with whatever flour a bakery is currently working with. From a sensory standpoint, there is little to no change to the product. The biggest factor bakers will need to account for is the hydroscopic properties of the high-fiber flour, so more water will need to be used due to its high absorption rate.

“We do have some customers that are using 100% HealthSense in place of normal flour, and that’s obviously bringing the biggest degree of nutritional impact,” Jacobs said. “But what comes back to the essence of food is that the consumer will not be able to tell the difference. It really does perform like an all-purpose, white refined flour.”

For more information on HealthSense, visit Bay State Milling’s website.

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