Bob Moore of Bob's Red Mill

Bob Moore, the 80-year-old founder of Bob’s Red Mill of Portland, Ore., talks about the benefits of stone grinding grains, coming back after a fire and the company’s next big market.

When did you begin stone grinding grain?
I turned the first millstone 36 years ago. Before that I’d owned a gas station, worked for a tire company and ran the auto center at a J.C. Penney.

Did you know you were going to be at the forefront of a culinary movement?
Not at all. My wife Charlee introduced the family to back-to-basics eating inspired by the canning and baking she did with women in our church, as well as by what we read about the benefits of whole unprocessed foods. But I was mostly caught up in the romance of the old stone mills.

What is the benefit of stone grinding?
We take nothing, none of the nutrients, out of the grain during stone milling. When white flour is made, for example, the bran and germ are removed during the milling process. That doesn’t happen with stone milling.

In 1988, your mill burned down. Did you consider abandoning the food business?
Yes, I did. I was 60 at the time and it seemed like maybe we should just chuck it. But a local newsman did a wingding job of resurrecting us by covering the story of the fire and our potential closing. Our local customers were encouraging and said that if we rebuilt, they’d work with us. And well, I had invested everything in this and there is a certain reality to putting food on the table. But I was fortunate. The social system in our area has always been supportive of us and the company. No one, including my contractor, banker and even the insurance company, gave me any hassle. Within six months we had a smooth flow of products again.

How many products do you have now?
More than 400 including a line of gluten-free items, which we began grinding more than 15 years ago. They are made in an entirely separate mill here. We have a line of more than 50 certified organic products. We have heirloom grains including amaranth, kamut and quinoa. We have 325,000 square feet with 12 or 13 of these stone mills going all the time. We have 191 people running three shifts, 24 hours a day, five days a week plus a testing lab and a mill store and restaurant that looks like an old mill with an operating 18-foot-high water wheel.

What’s your next challenge?
Our biggest push right now is marketing our products towards the Hispanic market. In Canada we’ve had a French-labeled product for years. We also have products sold in Japan, Dubai and other countries with our Bob’s Red Mill label in the local language. We are now working with folks in South and Central America and Mexico on a Spanish language label to approach that market.

If you knew you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
It would have to be our Ten Grain Cereal. You could put me someplace cool with our Ten Grain Cereal and the Bible and I would be set. –Susan Segrest

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