sourcing grain in Germany/EU
I recently moved to Germany from the US. In the US, I bought all my grain for milling wholesale from Camas Country Mill, which I can't say enough good things about. Now it's time to find my new supplier here. Does anyone have any recommendations for a place to buy grain wholesale in Germany or perhaps elsewhere in the EU?
I love Camas Country because they have a good selection of grains, from the standard commodity grades like hard red spring to more specialty things like ancient grains and newly bred cultivars, because they grow their own wheat right there in the Willamette Valley, and because they're a nice small family business that is always pleasant to deal with. I'd love to find someplace with similar qualities here, but any ideas for where I can get a big sack of wheat berries for a reasonable price would be super welcome!
I'm also in the EU (Italy) and I have not found a source for moderate quantities (say 5kg) of named varieties. You can get commodity wheat, spelt, einkorn etc in health food stores, but nobody seems to know anything about the specifics. There's no lack of specialy millers and flours, but no grain that I have managed to find.
I'll be following along and wish you luck in your quest.
Jeremy
Which city in Germany? I lived in Saarbrücken for a time and it was great.
Do you speak German? This will help your endeavor.
Ask the head baker at the local supermarket (Rewe, Hit or Globus are my preferences). You can also ask the head baker at a local bread shop/cafe (they are everywhere in Germany). Expect to visit these places as soon as they open in the morning to make contact with the experienced baker.
You don't mention where you are in Germany, but you can probably find a local flour mill that can help you out - just by searching online near your location (keyword "Mühle") or as suggested by semolina_man by asking at a bakery. When it comes to specialty grains, then spelt, einkorn and emmer will be easy to find (spelt is so popular you could argue if it should even be considered a "specialty" grain anymore in several European countries...); specific varietals of wheat, rye and spelt are less commonly sold but can be found.
Some reputable mills that also have webshops are Biomühle Eiling (https://www.biomuehle-eiling.de/bio-getreide/) and Drax Mühle (https://shop.drax-muehle.de/produkte/1400/getreide) which both have an interesting selection of grain varieties, I can't vouch for their products directly as they don't ship outside of DE, so unfortunately also not helpful to Jeremy. (Although the EU is in principle a single market, my experience has been that many small-scale millers will only ship within their home country - flour grades and preferences are different from country to country, and I guess the demand from abroad is too small to justify the paperwork).
However, at the moment both these webshops (and quite a few others, having done a quick search!) are currently "on hold" because of panic buying/supply disruptions related to the war in Ukraine. So finding a nearby miller you can visit in person will probably be your best bet.
Depending on what your motivations are for looking for bulk grain instead of milled flour, you might find it interesting to explore some of the already-milled flours available in DE as well: the variety, as well as the baking properties, will certainly be different than what you are used to in the US.
Good advice. Alnatura is a good brand of flour and baking products in Germany that seems to be fairly widely available there.
Agree that rye and spelt are relatively common in Germany. Roggen = rye and Dinkel = spelt. Look for Roggenmehl and Dinkelmehl.
Avoid the "discounter" type grocery stores like Aldi, Lidl, etc. which don't carry higher quality brands or a wide selection. And look for Rewe, Globus, Hit and similar, which cater to higher price points with more selection.
I shop in Alnatura here in Basel (across the border from Germany). Indeed there is a good selection of flours, and some whole grains - but not large packages, just 1 kg. Which is perfect for me, but the OP wanted wholesale...
But I also feel like the idea to buy huge quantities is just not common in Europe, and perhaps it's a US thing?
"However, at the moment both these webshops (and quite a few others, having done a quick search!) are currently "on hold" because of panic buying/supply disruptions related to the war in Ukraine. So finding a nearby miller you can visit in person will probably be your best bet."
Yeah, I'm part of a German baking FB community and it's pretty bad. (They are actually making light of it here). Though I've seen anecdotally that a lot of flour is still available if you're willing to go premium. Many, including one of the mods, however, feel like it's not so much scarcity as perception and hoarding behavior:
Which doesn't matter, of course, since hoarding behavior is as bad or worse than actual supply.
According to Wiki, in 2020, Ukraine was EU's #2 producer of wheat, after France.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat
I have a feeling their 2021 harvests (spring and fall) are going to be severely reduced.
--
The US wheat harvests have also been well below the long term average. Likely due to the 20 year drought that has been going on. But also due to just plain fewer acres planted with wheat.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_wheat_production_statistics
That's really, really sad, with so much more unspoken. I've only seen a couple, but those German posters felt Germany was more than self-sufficient in wheat for its needs and were pleading for anti-hoarding behavior. Until now I've also been clueless about the secular trend, Dave, thanks.
Thank you all for the excellent advice.
To answer some questions, I'm in München and my German is not amazing, but certainly good enough to stumble through a conversation about sourcing with a baker. I only bought wholesale in the US because with shipping costs it was required to avoid paying 2-3x the cost of flour at the grocery store, so I'm not attached to wholesale if I can find a source close enough to go pick up on a monthly basis or so. My primary motivation for milling is that it's fun, followed by having a little more control over the size of the bran flakes as I like to sift them out and make a bran levain. I'm definitely looking forward to experimenting with the various flours available.
It never would have occurred to me to just search for "Mühle" in my area, so thanks for that idea. It looks like there is a place called Würmmühle accessible by S-Bahn without an online shop, so I'm definitely going to go check that out soon. I also would not have thought to talk to the baker at REWE or one of my local bakeries, but will do that as well. The two online shops linked look great, although it's a shame about the hamster buying, and sad to think about all the suffering next door as I play with my dough.
Thanks again, all!
Looks like a nice option! Drax Mühle is actually relatively close to München (at least by American standards ... "local" has a very different meaning in Europe) so you could even visit them in person if you have access to a car. Good luck managing all the grain on the S-Bahn!
I missed your links Mike. From what I can tell those are stellar millers. I've actually exchanged with Monika Drax a bit. Quite a nice lady, and it's rewarding to see her involvement with many of the events Brotdoc and Lutz Geißler also attend. At insanely beautiful locales. I'm quite envious!
Good luck esrice. And thoughts are with you and the continent itself for peace and healing.
I haven't even been here for a year and Rechtmering, where Drax is, already seems very far away as there is no train station there! I'm sure I can find someone with a car who will drive me there in return for lots of bread, though. Thanks for pointing out that it is not in fact very far from München.