What does it take to become a Certified Organic Miller?

Access to organic foods gives consumers more options at the grocery store. When shoppers have more options, premium food brands have more opportunities, especially those marketing with an eye toward health or sustainability. To effectively communicate an organic brand’s value, consumers need to be able to trust that the products they buy truly meet a high standard to bear the organic label.

The USDA conducts a rigorous review of farms and processors to certify that their products are produced using organic practices. In the case of grains, farmers and millers must submit an application through a USDA-accredited certifying agent and pass an on-site compliance inspection. At Italgrani, we continually review and invest in our practices to maintain our status as an industry leader in the milling and sourcing of organic durum and semolina.

These practices include:

• Ensuring grain is sourced from reliable, approved North American farms and suppliers
• Requiring source documents to prove the grain’s provenance
• Regular audits of policies and procedures of our sourcing partners
• Tracing grain transport to our St. Louis, Missouri facility
• Creating separate, physical boundaries at our facility between conventional and organic grains with segregated storage containers
• Developing an Organic System Plan (OSP) at our milling operations for consistent identification of organic products
• Strict manufacturing processes through final delivery of organic grain
• Annual review with our USDA-accredited certifying agency to ensure our processes meet or exceed federal compliance guidelines

With organic, it comes down to trust. Consumers need to be able to trust organic food labels. Therefore, we want to know with certainty that the organic grain we buy is truly organic. So, we make it a priority to maintain close relationships with our farmers and suppliers to safeguard the integrity of the grain. These relationships afford us the access needed to verify that our suppliers are following established procedures for organic farming.

We take this responsibility very seriously. Our customers, and consumers in general, rely on us to ensure that our products are authentically organic. That’s why we’ve built careful, controlled processes for sourcing and milling organic grain.

From organic pastas to pizza doughs, organic flours have countless formulation possibilities. However, not every miller is certified organic or can meet the bulk-sourcing needs of large-scale production. As specialists in durum, Italgrani offers several bulk options for organic durum flour and semolina, including:

• Organic Durum Semolina
• Organic Durum Patent and Extra Fancy Patent (EFP) Flour
• Organic Second Clear
• Organic Midds and Pelletized Midds

Italgrani’s organic ingredients solutions are available in bulk and totes, by rail or truck, and in 50 lb. bags. Contact us to find out more about Italgrani’s certified organic durum flours and everything we’re doing to help food brands establish trust with organic consumers.