Secure regular access to raw cereals in the right quality and quantity

Plant varieties and seeds in Europe are subject to a respected and robust regulatory regime. Wheat is the grain from which most flour in Europe is processed. Good knowledge of grain markets - in particular for wheat, rye and oat (quality, production, stocks) - is vital for the flour millers.

Milling homegrown wheat, rye and oat

With some 48 million tonnes processed each year, the European flour millers are the largest single food users of domestic wheat, rye and oats. Whilst it is possible to make flour from many different types of grain, wheat is easily the most widely used. This is because of the unique properties of wheat flour which allow the production of bread and other flour-based products.

Milling is a continuous process requiring regular access to bread-making quality

Milling is a continuous process and flour mills are operating 24 hours a day. Therefore, flour millers need to secure a regular access to their raw materials in both quantity and quality. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) sets the framework within which EU wheat producers operate and indirectly impacts the flour milling sector.

Increasingly unpredictable & extremely volatile cereal markets

European flour millers are everyday confronted with increasingly unpredictable and volatile market conditions. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) sets the framework within which EU wheat growers operate and indirectly impacts the flour milling sector. CAP market instruments are here to support a stable supply and they are essential in preventing crisis situations. Those instruments are to be both predictable and transparent. When existing, they must be established for all cereals and not focus on a particular cereal type (for instance bread-making wheat).

Stimulating innovation & research to tackle climate change consequences

Supplying European consumers with quality staple food from constant supply of local and sustainable agricultural raw materials is one key challenge for the European millers. EU support in stimulating innovation & research is fundamental, for example to find sustainable alternatives to avoid EU’s farmers reliance on agrochemicals and their residues to enter the food chain.