Which Wheat is for What?

Which Wheat is for What?

When the Honan family purchased the Manildra flour mill in 1952, they knew that if they were going to produce the highest-quality Australian-grown and made products, it would all start at the wheat farm.

Wheat is the largest enterprise in the Australia grain industry, with golden wheatfields grown throughout the northern, southern and eastern New South Wales regions in the crescent known as the ‘Australian wheatbelt’.

Thousands of Australian wheat farming families produce approximately 25 million tonnes of total wheat annually, accounting for 3 per cent of the world’s wheat production, and 10 per cent of global wheat exports.

“We partner and maintain personal relationships with thousands of local Australian wheat farming families, together we ensure our products are made with the highest quality wheat, all sustainably produced to the world’s best practice standards,” said John Honan, Manildra Group’s Managing Director.

“We have strategically invested in grain storage sites throughout the wheatbelt, which allow us to bring the finest Australian-grown wheat from farm to storage, then onto mills, providing customers absolute confidence in our supply chain all year round,” he said.

Australian farmers grow eleven classes of wheat and depending on the protein content of the wheat grain, it is categorised into what flour millers and farmers refer to as hard wheat or soft wheat.

Hard wheat has a high protein content (gluten), which produces a strong and elastic dough, making it the best type of wheat to produce bread flour. Soft wheat has a lower protein content (gluten) and is used to make plain flour and self raising flour, making it ideal for baking cakes, biscuits, and pastries.

Leading the wheat buying team, Manildra Group Head Grain Buyer, Peter Sloan, said Australian wheat was internationally renowned for its premium quality and consistent processing performance resulting in the production of superior end-products. “Australia is renowned for growing high-quality, high-protein wheat.

“Since 1952, we have built wholesome relationships with local farmers. Our local wheat buying and grain handling teams, have decades of experience in the industry from milling, logistics, quality to grain handling and are our “go-to” people, visiting farms and liaising with growers daily.

“It is our strong relationships – some lasting generations – with growers and traders that are the foundation of which our buying is based,” said Mr Sloan.

Mr Sloan said that Manildra Group was constantly reinvesting in their manufacturing and storage sites, transport systems, and the communities in which they operate – the beating heart of the company.

“This facilitates round-the-clock access to rail-sized parcels of wheat – 365 days a year.”

Wheat is the major winter crop grown in Australia with sowing starting in autumn and harvesting, depending on seasonal conditions, occurring in spring and summer. About 65-75 per cent of Australia’s total wheat production is exported each year with the domestic feed grains (intensive livestock) industry requiring approximately three million tonnes a year.

“To us natural, means natural – so all our wheat-based food and industrial products are made from 100 per cent Australian pesticide and GMO-free wheat,” Mr Honan said.

Since it’s humble beginnings, Mr Honan said that as third- generation flour millers, Manildra Group was proud to have grown to become the largest user of Australia’s wheat, in the production of food and industrial products from our manufacturing sites. “From paddock-to-plate Manildra Group takes great pride in handling all aspects of the production process in-house, from inspecting grains for quality, producing premium flour to delivering the finished product to your door,” Mr Honan said.

The Whole Wheat Grain Story

From warm scones lathered in cream and jam, to sourdough bread rolls and pasta, you may know you require different types of flour to bake these recipes, you might not realise that you need a different type of wheat. So, what Australian wheat does Manildra Group buy?

PREMIUM HARD WHEAT AUSTRALIAN PRIME HARD (APH)
From warm scones lathered in cream and jam, to sourdough bread rolls and pasta, you may know you require different types of flour to bake these recipes, you might not realise that you need a different type of wheat. So, what Australian wheat does Manildra Group buy?

AUSTRALIAN HARD (AH)
High and mid-protein selected hard-grained varieties, deliver a minimum protein level of 11.5 per cent. AH is clean, dry, and sound, ensuring the production of high-quality flours at high extraction rates. The perfect flour for breads including European style, Middle Eastern style flat bread to yellow alkaline noodles, dry white salted noodles, and steamed products.

AUSTRALIAN PREMIUM WHITE (APW)
APW is a blend of white hard-grained wheat varieties, with a minimum
10.5 per cent protein level with its hard grain characteristic ensuring fine milling and excellent extraction rates. Ideal for a wide range of products including varieties of Asian noodles such as Hokkien, instant and fresh noodles. With consistent flour quality it’s also perfect for Middle Eastern and Indian-style breads, sub-continental flat breads and Chinese steamed breads.

SPECIALITY WHEATS AUSTRALIAN DURUM (ADR1)
The hardest of all wheats, durum has a rich amber colour and has a minimum gluten content of 13 per cent. ADR1 sets the gold standard for premium pasta products, couscous, and some Mediterranean breads. Durum wheat differs from the other wheats as it has an endosperm that does not break into fine flour when milled but into coarse semolina, perfect for dry pasta products with high levels of yellow pigment and high-water absorption. Additionally, the free-milling grain can achieve high yields of superior quality semolina with minimal residue in the flour production.

GENERAL-PURPOSE WHEATS AUSTRALIAN STANDARD WHITE (ASW)
Highly versatile with medium-to-low- protein levels, this white wheat grain represents exceptional value for straight milling or blending purposes. Known as a multi-purpose wheat it is used in the production of a wide range of products including Middle Eastern, Indian and Iranian-style flat breads, European-style breads and rolls, and Chinese steamed bread.

AUSTRALIAN SOFT (ASFT)
ASFT is produced on the Australian east coast and is used domestically for biscuit making and cake production with low protein content, low water absorption, low dough strength and over-extensibility for the protein content. It is ideal for a range of Asian steamed products and in the production of biscuits, which need white, bright and speck-free flour.

AUSTRALIAN PREMIUM DURUM (ADR)
ADR is ideal for a diverse range of wet and dry pasta products with outstanding colour and shelf life and is also used in the production of North African and Middle Eastern products such as couscous, hearth, and flat breads.