Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2009 | Page 103

FOOD & DRINK

life

Organic award to
amazing flour company
Matt Bowman (Owner) and staff

“I was surprised!”grins Matt
Bowman of the Stoneground
Flour Company. Organic
Producer of the Year was the
award he and his colleagues
won at the Island Life Food
and Drink Awards at the end
of November, and the reason
he didn’t expect to win was
because “we don’t have any
contact with Jo Public.”
The distinctive wholesome bags
of flour in simple unbleached
bags are widely recognised by
Islanders who care about the
food they eat, and who seek
unusual or specialist flours to
try out in their bread making
machines. But unlike other
categories in the Awards such
as Best Farm Shop or Best
Restaurant the public don’t build
up a relationship directly with
the owners of the business.
Which means the product needs
to speak for itself.
“You’ve got to draw people
into your product with the
packaging. Fancy packaging is all
very well but if the content is no
good people are only going to
buy it once.”
The flour appeals to its
customers because of its quality
but also its variety. Grains such
as rye, spelt and maize are used,
and blends like Vectis Malty,

which is Stoneground’s take
on granary, and multi-seed,
answer the call for something
distinctive. The company has
cornered the market in specialist
flours because it is small enough
to be flexible. “The average
miller mi