19/10/2026
MEET THE MAKERS: HUMBLE FLOUR CO! We’re introducing some of the core suppliers who make Wild Wheat’s products great, and today it’s the Hawke’s Bay pair behind the flour in our loaves. Simon grows it, and Hamish gets it milled and moving.
It started with an arrangement Hamish Glendinning thought was bonkers. Simon White, a fifth-generation cropping farmer in Otane, Central Hawke’s Bay, was growing milling-quality wheat but earning more by selling it as livestock feed than by sending it to the mill. Then came the number that sealed it: New Zealand imports more than 70% of the wheat used for flour production here from Australia. “It was a real smack in the face,” says Hamish.
In 2023 the pair launched Humble Flour Co, hoping to reduce those imports and build a bit of food resilience while getting New Zealand’s very good wheat into loaves around the country. The name is deliberate - flour is such a humble but life-giving ingredient, and as Hamish puts it, they think it could do with a bit more love!
Every grain is grown on Simon’s farm, which makes it about as single origin as flour gets. He’s deeply into regenerative farming and was named the 2026 East Coast Farm Environment winner as well as Hawke’s Bay Farmer of the Year.
And what’s Zentrofan flour? We get asked a lot at the counter! A roller mill separates the grain and recombines parts of it later, whereas a Zentrofan uses air pressure and a block wall to mill the entire kernel with nothing removed. With no friction, no nutrients are lost through heat, so you get an unusually fine and consistent 100% wholewheat flour with the whole grain’s nutrition and flavour in their natural proportions. Ours is freshly milled to order.
As for Hamish, he goes through phases of making wholewheat sourdough at home before giving in and buying a loaf from us, and otherwise it’s muffins from Simon’s sister’s recipe. “I wish more people baked with wholewheat flour,” he says. “It gives great flavour and offers nutritional value to a treat!”
Here’s to that!
