Ugh.I think it's everywhere. It has caused me to not buy several things lately. Or wait and buy a bunch at once, in hopes the total price per pound isn't quite as bad. Amazon isn't always helpful either..... I'm noticing the price of some things are higher there than if I get them at a brick and mortar store. My guess is it helps offset the cost of "free" shipping. Happy to be able to ship at/support brick and mortar places before Amazon, but they don't always have what I am looking for.
Yippee, I’m pretty sure the price jump is mainly due to the fact that UPS has recently started to charge a premium for weights of 50 pounds and over. Some distributors have started to remove some flour from a 50 pound bag to reduce the weight and get a price drop.
But I have to say, $65 for 50 pounds would be a real deal for me. It cost much more to ship weight to south Louisiana.
I think this issue is fixed. I went to Central Milling's site and got sticker shock at the shipping quote like you did. I live in a neighboring state to CM. I order 5 lbs of assorted flours at a time,and I do it quarterly to keep it fresh and based on my needs. My last few orders, the FedEx shipping was about $15.00. This time, the site quoted $76.00 which is higher than the product total.
So I called CM. I can understand increased shipping cost, but not 500% so my theory was that something was wrong with the shipping calculator. The nice man at CM said he'd look into it, and I went to the site the following day, same order now $17.00 shipping. Give it a try. Happy baking!
Sometimes Costco has one of their flours available at a very affordable price. Of course since it's Costco, the packages are bigger. Still, lots cheaper than shipping. Also, if you have Prime, check Amazon. I have purchased their wheat berries that way several times. (Not sure if any of their flour is available there or not....)
Yes, Costco frequently carries Central Milling All Purpose, but you must buy 20 pounds, in the form of two (2) 10 Lb bags shrink-wrapped together. I just bought 20 Lb last week for what worked out to $.77/Lb.
Fred Meyer also had King Arthur All Purpose (Red bag) in 5 Lb bags for 2.99, with a MyFreddie loyalty card. That is also an excellent price. I see this King Arthur flour regularly in local markets, but at prices between $5.99 (on sale!) to $7.99.
The point is that it pays to shop around, because you can frequently beat net-with-shipping costs in local outlets.
I am looking for their organic products. Only have BJ's and Sam's around me. BJ's has KA bread flour but it's not organic. I just used the last bit of what I had remaining today and will be trying to find my new supply of organic flours to supplement my freshly milled flour.
Not sure what you're using as a metric, but as an example, for me, getting flour from Central Milling costs as much as the flour itself. Bag of spelt, $53.08, shipping, $53.80. Granted, that's far away from me, but the delivery services of choice for vendors have skyrocketed in cost. Trust me, I'd love to source for less, from companies with known quality.
Amazon is not the source for food. Not in my book, anyway.
I happened upon this website (https://www.meadowlarkorganics.com/) the other day when I was looking for nearby mills that sold rye flour. They sell online and at some local stores in Madison.
Thanks Alcophile - yep! Those are the folks I get almost all my berries from (that's who I was referring to below). I get them in bulk from our local co-op, and they're great (the price of spelt has jumped, I think? $3.99 per pound?), around $1.80 for rye and a hard red spring wheat. They also sell whole berries in emmer, einkorn and one or two others, and pearled farro, pretty cool.
The only thing from CM I really look for anymore is their T110, and also T80 (as a sub for German 1050). I'm pretty blown away by their flours, though, so wanted to get some decent amounts of berries in to try them out.
I'll look into it, Suave. I have a local mill whose products I use almost exclusively (meaning, berries). It's the branded stuff like Central Mills's Type 110 I was talking about (I can't get it) or some untrustworthy products that were misleading (i.e., "repackaged" "pumpernickel"). Just not big on buying food from a company like Amazon. Though I do.
Thank you by the way, suave. I've seen their products but to be honest my eyes sort of glaze over when I see the plethora of mills whose names I'm not familiar with.
But thanks.
edit: just a query because I'm unfamiliar with "hulled" spelt. Is that something different from whole grain? And in terms of the berries, lots of complaints ("floor sweepings?"). I know that's not your point - that there are possibilities available - just points up one of my concerns, I guess. I trust CM. I don't know Great River at all and I am suspect a bit based on what I'm reading. It's my assumption going in.
I haven't an idea how real the complaints are. I know of them because I buy their rye flour and it's great. A person in my baking circle also gets their AP which is available locally at Costco and they swear by it. Never tried their grain.
As far as hulling - I think that spelt is a bit like barley in a sense that the kernels don't just jump out of the husk by themselves, so it needs to be hulled if used for human consumption.
Does Amazon have Central Milling flour? I can't remember the last time I ordered from Amazon. If Amazon sells it, I probably don't need it. They're more of a cancer on the US than anything, along with Bezos, you can have them if you want.
I just want some flour, don't have a lot of money, but like good bread,
Shipping for CM to me in the US was over $70.
I mostly buy things that aren't made in China, if that isn't the case, yes, most things on Amazon are free to ship over $25, whoopty doo... My Salzburger grain mill from Austria was certainly expensive to ship from your neck of the woods. I currently am working on an unfortunate return to Australia and it's running me an upwards of $200 to ship. I'm hoping they will allow me to wait until restrictions are lifted.
While the shipping cost per pound has gone up across the board, there is now a special surchage for packages of 50 pounds or more.
Remember: The surcharge applies to the package, not the entire shipment.
I just checked at Central Milling, and with a test order, to Indianapolis, it was $14 cheaper, _after shipping_, to order two bags of 25 pounds, than it was for one bag of 50 pounds.
I suspect that many millers who cater to retail customers will start offering 45 pound bags of flour/grain, in order to get a lower price per pound for the flour/grain than a 25-pounder, and which will also avoid the 50 pound package surcharge.
45 pounds allows for a few pounds of shipping material, plus possible moisture absorption by both the product and paper/cardboard packaging.
--
Currently, Central Milling does not have 25 pound bags for all of their products. Some are still available only in 50 pound bags.
You remind me yes you're right and we have that here - and damn me if I've forgotten the company that does it. It's a pickup off the truck directly at a location about 15 miles from me. And yes, whole bags only. As Dave points out, CM also sells 25# bags, avoiding the whole-bag surcharge (I will probably be buying 25# of their T80 - not really wanting to bolt, at least for now). I wonder if they'd drop off these bags as well.
YES that's it! Though they only ship the BF from Central Milling, I wonder if I could see if they piggyback stuff at all. regardless, an awesome resource. Thanks so much!
Ugh.I think it's everywhere. It has caused me to not buy several things lately. Or wait and buy a bunch at once, in hopes the total price per pound isn't quite as bad. Amazon isn't always helpful either..... I'm noticing the price of some things are higher there than if I get them at a brick and mortar store. My guess is it helps offset the cost of "free" shipping. Happy to be able to ship at/support brick and mortar places before Amazon, but they don't always have what I am looking for.
Yippee, I’m pretty sure the price jump is mainly due to the fact that UPS has recently started to charge a premium for weights of 50 pounds and over. Some distributors have started to remove some flour from a 50 pound bag to reduce the weight and get a price drop.
But I have to say, $65 for 50 pounds would be a real deal for me. It cost much more to ship weight to south Louisiana.
CM's courier FedEx increased the rate drastically.
Yippee
P.S. If you ever want to purchase CM's products through one of its distributors, here's the one in LA:
SYSCO-NEW ORLEANSwww.sysco.comRoxanne Taylor(504) 731-1015Taylor.Roxanne@nola.sysco.comYippee,
I think this issue is fixed. I went to Central Milling's site and got sticker shock at the shipping quote like you did. I live in a neighboring state to CM. I order 5 lbs of assorted flours at a time,and I do it quarterly to keep it fresh and based on my needs. My last few orders, the FedEx shipping was about $15.00. This time, the site quoted $76.00 which is higher than the product total.
So I called CM. I can understand increased shipping cost, but not 500% so my theory was that something was wrong with the shipping calculator. The nice man at CM said he'd look into it, and I went to the site the following day, same order now $17.00 shipping. Give it a try. Happy baking!
🙏🙏🙏
I'm having the same issue. I really wanted to try their flour but I can't pay the same price in shipping as I am for the flour I'm buying...
Shipping bulk, whole wheat berries has always been super expensive no matter where I look, but for 5 - 10 lbs of flour, I can't justify it.
Sometimes Costco has one of their flours available at a very affordable price. Of course since it's Costco, the packages are bigger. Still, lots cheaper than shipping. Also, if you have Prime, check Amazon. I have purchased their wheat berries that way several times. (Not sure if any of their flour is available there or not....)
Mary
Yes, Costco frequently carries Central Milling All Purpose, but you must buy 20 pounds, in the form of two (2) 10 Lb bags shrink-wrapped together. I just bought 20 Lb last week for what worked out to $.77/Lb.
Fred Meyer also had King Arthur All Purpose (Red bag) in 5 Lb bags for 2.99, with a MyFreddie loyalty card. That is also an excellent price. I see this King Arthur flour regularly in local markets, but at prices between $5.99 (on sale!) to $7.99.
The point is that it pays to shop around, because you can frequently beat net-with-shipping costs in local outlets.
Best of luck
OldWoodenSpoon
I am looking for their organic products. Only have BJ's and Sam's around me. BJ's has KA bread flour but it's not organic. I just used the last bit of what I had remaining today and will be trying to find my new supply of organic flours to supplement my freshly milled flour.
{{ spam content deleted }}
Not sure what you're using as a metric, but as an example, for me, getting flour from Central Milling costs as much as the flour itself. Bag of spelt, $53.08, shipping, $53.80. Granted, that's far away from me, but the delivery services of choice for vendors have skyrocketed in cost. Trust me, I'd love to source for less, from companies with known quality.
Amazon is not the source for food. Not in my book, anyway.
Great River is a Wisconsin mill, local to you. Yes, they sell through Amazon. So what?
Unfortunately this thread is about Central Milling. Perhaps start a new thread about Great River.
I can only speak for myself, but I'm perfectly good with any input.
I happened upon this website (https://www.meadowlarkorganics.com/) the other day when I was looking for nearby mills that sold rye flour. They sell online and at some local stores in Madison.
Thanks Alcophile - yep! Those are the folks I get almost all my berries from (that's who I was referring to below). I get them in bulk from our local co-op, and they're great (the price of spelt has jumped, I think? $3.99 per pound?), around $1.80 for rye and a hard red spring wheat. They also sell whole berries in emmer, einkorn and one or two others, and pearled farro, pretty cool.
The only thing from CM I really look for anymore is their T110, and also T80 (as a sub for German 1050). I'm pretty blown away by their flours, though, so wanted to get some decent amounts of berries in to try them out.
I'll look into it, Suave. I have a local mill whose products I use almost exclusively (meaning, berries). It's the branded stuff like Central Mills's Type 110 I was talking about (I can't get it) or some untrustworthy products that were misleading (i.e., "repackaged" "pumpernickel"). Just not big on buying food from a company like Amazon. Though I do.
Thank you by the way, suave. I've seen their products but to be honest my eyes sort of glaze over when I see the plethora of mills whose names I'm not familiar with.
But thanks.
edit: just a query because I'm unfamiliar with "hulled" spelt. Is that something different from whole grain? And in terms of the berries, lots of complaints ("floor sweepings?"). I know that's not your point - that there are possibilities available - just points up one of my concerns, I guess. I trust CM. I don't know Great River at all and I am suspect a bit based on what I'm reading. It's my assumption going in.
I haven't an idea how real the complaints are. I know of them because I buy their rye flour and it's great. A person in my baking circle also gets their AP which is available locally at Costco and they swear by it. Never tried their grain.
As far as hulling - I think that spelt is a bit like barley in a sense that the kernels don't just jump out of the husk by themselves, so it needs to be hulled if used for human consumption.
Does Amazon have Central Milling flour? I can't remember the last time I ordered from Amazon. If Amazon sells it, I probably don't need it. They're more of a cancer on the US than anything, along with Bezos, you can have them if you want.
I just want some flour, don't have a lot of money, but like good bread,
Shipping for CM to me in the US was over $70.
I mostly buy things that aren't made in China, if that isn't the case, yes, most things on Amazon are free to ship over $25, whoopty doo... My Salzburger grain mill from Austria was certainly expensive to ship from your neck of the woods. I currently am working on an unfortunate return to Australia and it's running me an upwards of $200 to ship. I'm hoping they will allow me to wait until restrictions are lifted.
While the shipping cost per pound has gone up across the board, there is now a special surchage for packages of 50 pounds or more.
Remember: The surcharge applies to the package, not the entire shipment.
I just checked at Central Milling, and with a test order, to Indianapolis, it was $14 cheaper, _after shipping_, to order two bags of 25 pounds, than it was for one bag of 50 pounds.
I suspect that many millers who cater to retail customers will start offering 45 pound bags of flour/grain, in order to get a lower price per pound for the flour/grain than a 25-pounder, and which will also avoid the 50 pound package surcharge.
45 pounds allows for a few pounds of shipping material, plus possible moisture absorption by both the product and paper/cardboard packaging.
--
Currently, Central Milling does not have 25 pound bags for all of their products. Some are still available only in 50 pound bags.
Retail customers who operate on a 50lb bag level typically don't buy off a website, they go to local distributor.
You remind me yes you're right and we have that here - and damn me if I've forgotten the company that does it. It's a pickup off the truck directly at a location about 15 miles from me. And yes, whole bags only. As Dave points out, CM also sells 25# bags, avoiding the whole-bag surcharge (I will probably be buying 25# of their T80 - not really wanting to bolt, at least for now). I wonder if they'd drop off these bags as well.
Azure Standard?
YES that's it! Though they only ship the BF from Central Milling, I wonder if I could see if they piggyback stuff at all. regardless, an awesome resource. Thanks so much!