Wheat Flour Mill Industry

MILLING AND BAKING INDUSTRY

The milling industry generates an average of 2.5 million tons’ flour milled from wheat. The milled flour products include white bread flour, whole flour, brown bread flour, cake flour, self-raising flour and industrial flour. The milling industry sells the milled flour to industrial users, wholesalers, and the BLNS countries. During the milling of wheat about 67% of white flour and meal produced is used for baked goods. Raw material in this case wheat is supplied to millers either from the domestic market or from the international market through imports. (Louw et al, 2010)

LEVEL OF COMPETITION IN WHEAT MILLING AND BAKING

This serves the purpose of acting as an indicator to determine the long term sustainability

It is related to the more standard “all-purpose” flour, but is more processed — and in many cases, is actually made from a different part of the original wheat germ. This results in a silky-smooth, powdery substance that is low in protein and does not typically bind much with other ingredients. The very low protein content, between 8% and 10%, is why it is suitable for soft-textured cakes and cookies. The high protein content of other types of flours would make products made from cake flour tough. (McMahon,

This is because it is milled so fine that it is so soft to the touch that it feels like baby powder or icing sugar. Cake flour usually has a finely milled texture, low protein content and the ability to hold large amounts of fat and sugar. (McMahon, 2017)

Cake flour can also be more expensive than other standard types of flour even though they are usually sold in smaller quantities. Even though many different brands around the world produce it, there is generally little difference between true cake flours. The most significant characteristic is the fine grind, which allows baked goods to perform differently than with a thicker product. (McMahon, 2017)

FLOUR FOR CAKES AND BISCUITS

Lower protein content flour is the ideal flour for making most cakes and biscuits that is milled from soft wheat varieties. The protein needed to form the structure of cakes and biscuits is not from the flour used but from other ingredients such as egg. The use of cake flour gives a tender soft product as the gluten in the flour does not contribute significantly to the cake structure. If flour that is too strong is used the resultant cakes will be tough and dry and biscuits will not spread out when baked. (BIRT,