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Wheat Allergy Leads to the Founding of Sunrise Flour Mill By Darrold Glanville and Martha Glanville
Sunrise Flour Mill grew out of our desire to help home bakers who struggle with gluten. We began selling our heritage flour at the local farmers market in 2011 or 2012, and people started realizing this flour was special.
Before we moved to rural North Branch in 2006, Darrold owned a small biotech company and Martha was a special education teacher in Minneapolis. We have a passion for cooking, baking, and sharing meals with others. As a retirement project, we ground our own flour using tabletop mills in a room attached to our garage. We ate some and sold the rest at a local farmers market.
By 2017, we were both in our 70s and had to decide whether to stop or get bigger. We chose the latter.
We hired a consultant who helped us secure a Minnesota Department of Agriculture grant, and bank loans. That enabled us to purchase a 5,200 square-foot building and hire a general manager with a background in e-commerce. We slowly added equipment and staff, which has allowed us to grow. We also added product lines; we are getting ready to launch some baking mixes.
“...we were both in our 70s and had to decide whether to stop or get bigger. We chose the latter.”
Darrold and Martha Glanville
Darrold started developing products to sell, so we were eating more wheat. He became increasingly achy and lethargic. Over a few months, he developed many health problems and doctors could not figure out why. Darrold began to question if modern wheat gluten might be to blame. Together, we went gluten-free. In just two days, Darrold felt better, and in two months he was symptom-free. But we missed eating bread and pasta, so we tried to determine how we could get our favorite foods back. This is where our heritage wheat journey began. We tried spelt, emmer, and einkorn, among others. These heritage grains have some gluten, but we find them easier to digest than hybridized wheat varieties.
We still go to the Mill City Farmers Market. We have a presence in many coops, specialty stores and restaurants, but our primary sales channel is e-commerce. Sunrise Flour Mill is so much more than anything we ever thought it would be, and we wouldn't want it any other way. EDITOR'S NOTE: This article is part of America’s Entrepreneurs, a Next Avenue initiative made possible by the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation and EIX, the Entrepreneur Innovation Exchange.
Photo credit: Sunrise Flour Mill
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NEXTAVENUE.ORG
SEPTEMBER 2022
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