F L O U R

W & H MARRIAGE & SONS LTD

MILLING SINCE 1824

The Marriage family have been flour millers in Essex since 1824 and farmers in the local area since the seventeenth century part 1:

The flour mill

“Everyone wants things to be better,” he adds. And consumers of flour are no different. Flour milling, says George, by Roger Gilbert and Olivia Holden, Milling and Grain magazine is the same process no matter where in the world you are. “The technology used is similar. It’s the materials used in he Great British Bake Off, a television programme manufacturing the equipment that has changed, such as the that has captured the imaginations of the British bearings and drives and resulting energy savings.” viewing public, has provided companies such as W Another significant change is in the control systems used in a & H Marriage and Sons Ltd of Essex in the UK with modern mill. increasing demand for its artisan flours for bread making and “Today everything is controlled and recorded by computer. baking. “For example, we are operating from a building built in 1899 Mr George Marriage, who is from the ‘William side’ of the and which started out producing just three-quarters of a tonne of family and therefore flour mill orientated, is responsible for the flour per hour. Today, we house much newer equipment, and our overall operation of the mill and says, “The quality drivers for colour sorter and computerised control systems combined with flour today come from the marketplace.” our laboratory mean we can control, trace and test quality at all Making a comparison, he says, “Nobody wants a cheap car these stages throughout the process using our own laboratory services.” days” and there is a universal awareness of quality throughout It was in 1997 when a seven tonne-per-hour roller flour mill was the flour and food industry that is being better understood by installed which took the factory from a line shaft driven mill over consumers through programmes such as the Great British Bake to direct drive for its roller mills. Off.

The Great British Bake Off starts with quality flour and Marriage’s

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26 | Milling and Grain