The logistics recipe for flour

Bread first and foremost, but also cakes, pastries, crêpes, cookies, pasta… flour has long been the main ingredient in many staple foods across most cultures. In 2018, archaeologists discovered traces of bread—and therefore flour—at a Jordanian site dating back 14,400 years, well before agriculture even existed. Today in France, 430 mills and 350 companies of varying sizes “mill” 5 million metric tons of grain every year—most often soft wheat, but also spelt, rye and corn—to turn it into 4 million metric tons of flour. The French milling sector ranks second in Europe—after Germany and ahead of Italy—and tenth worldwide. “The main markets we serve are artisan bakeries, mass retailers for in-store production and retail sales of bagged flour to consumers, the food industry for the manufacture of flour-based products (cookies, rusks, industrial bread, etc.), bakery chains and exports,” explains Julien Bourgeois, who co-manages Moulins Bourgeois with his brother David and chairs the transport committee at ANMF (the French National Milling Association). “Our mill, located in Verdelot, in the Seine-et-Marne département, works exclusively with artisan bakers, and we also export 20% of our products abroad.”

With revenue of €110 million, Moulins Bourgeois, founded 130 years ago by Léon Bourgeois, is one of the sector’s 50 mid-sized companies, which account for 20% of the flour volume sold each year. Four large companies account for 65% of the market, while the roughly 300 remaining businesses hold 15% of the sector. “In recent years, the market has become highly concentrated, notably as the number of artisan bakers has gradually declined, replaced by chains and mass retailers,” comments Julien Bourgeois. “At Moulins Bourgeois, we have chosen to continue working with these artisans because of the social connection they create throughout France, particularly in rural areas, while also providing skilled jobs.” To produce high-quality flour, Julien Bourgeois says the company operates like certain winemakers: “We select different wheat varieties and blend them to achieve a distinctive flavor that can be reproduced from one year to the next.” As heir to the French farming tradition, the milling industry generally sources wheat from local farmers via collectors (grain storage organizations). Every day, Moulins Bourgeois’ teams test the quality of the incoming grain, as well as the flour made from it, by baking bread on site. “We have three mills to process grain supplied by nearby farmers whom we selected for the quality of their wheat: one roller mill for Type 45 to Type 65 flours, intended for pastry, viennoiseries and traditional baguettes; and two stone mills, including one dedicated to organic production, for Type 80 to Type 150 flours used for semi-wholemeal and wholemeal sourdough breads.”

However, one of the largest parts of Moulins Bourgeois’ business concerns downstream logistics. Nearly half of its 200 employees handle deliveries to artisan bakers. Around 110,000 metric tons of flour leave these mills every year. “Every day, we prepare 400 to 500 orders to deliver to 2,000 artisans within a 300-kilometer radius of our Verdelot site.” A 2,500 m² depot in Brétigny stores one-third of the flour, serving customers south and west of Paris. Using one of the company’s 36 vehicles—all powered by B100 rapeseed biofuel—each crew, made up of a driver and a delivery assistant, delivers around 13 metric tons of flour to 15 to 17 customers. “For millers supplying mass retailers, deliveries are made by pallet. For industry, flour is delivered in bulk, often in 30-metric-ton loads, using a single-compartment tanker from which the flour is blown into silos,” explains Julien Bourgeois. “For us, since we serve only artisans, it is delivered in 25-kilogram bags, carried by hand.” Staff must therefore be trained for this highly physical type of delivery. “We are considering technical solutions to help them, such as exoskeletons, but we have not yet found the ideal solution, since the workday alternates between successive deliveries and driving the truck.” For the past 25 years, Moulins Bourgeois has therefore operated a four-day workweek for delivery staff to protect their health.

In addition to the mills, the 4-hectare Verdelot site also includes a 350 m² school, where around ten baker-instructors give courses certified under Qualiopi. “We encourage our artisan-baker customers to make everything they sell and to design their product ranges according to their production capacity. It is the best way to offer distinctive products that reflect who they are and set them apart from their peers,” explains Julien Bourgeois, who also holds a CAP vocational certificate in baking. “At our school, in sessions lasting a few days, we cover a range of topics, such as sourdough breadmaking and creative viennoiserie.” The Bourgeois brothers also help their customers set up their businesses: finding a business, preparing applications for banks, launching operations, and more. Good bread is food, a business and an art—one that sometimes needs support. As a reminder, the baguette has been listed as UNESCO intangible heritage since 2022...