[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 15596-15597]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     RECOGNIZING KING ARTHUR FLOUR

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, each year, it is with great pride that I 
participate in a reception here on Capitol Hill to showcase some of the 
best products conceived, developed, and produced in Vermont. One such 
company featured at the annual Taste of Vermont event is King Arthur 
Flour, where, for 225 years, generation after generation has produced 
quality cooking and baking ingredients.
  A firm that was born in Boston more than two centuries ago, in 1984 
then-owners Frank and Brinna Sands moved King Arthur Flour to Norwich, 
Vermont, and the company has become a staple in Vermont's business 
community. In the 1990s, the Sands made the decision to sell their 
company to their employees. The returns have been considerable, and the 
company has seen growth ever since.
  In ways that are typical of Vermont businesses, King Arthur Flour has 
evolved into a quality company offering quality products to its 
customers. The company's business model reflects one that is committed 
to its customers, its employees, the environment, and its community, 
even offering employees 40 hours of paid volunteer time to give back. 
Those commitments are backed up in its status as a certified B 
Corporation, a designation that independently recognizes the company's 
social sustainability and environmental performance standards.
  From breads to cakes, cookies to pies, King Arthur Flour's products 
have become staples in bakers' kitchens across the country, including 
in the Leahy kitchen, where Marcelle regularly shares her recipes with 
our grandchildren. In fact, many of our visits to the Upper Valley 
include a detour to King Arthur's terrific cafe where all of their 
superb products are available. It is yet another example of a tried and 
true Vermont-based company, revolutionizing and enticing the market 
with its quality products.
  I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record an August 28, 
2015, article from the Burlington Free Press recognizing King Arthur 
Flour's ``225 years of baking history.''
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                    [From the Burlington Free Press,
                             Aug. 28, 2015]

             King Arthur Flour: 225 Years of Baking History

                            (By Susan Reid)

       Some 225 years ago George Washington delivered the first 
     State of the Union address in January. In February, the U.S. 
     Supreme Court met for the first time. Vermont itself wasn't 
     yet a state. According to King George, it belonged to New 
     York, despite also being known as the New Hampshire Grants.
       In this world, miles away in Boston, a man named Henry Wood 
     started a company that imported flour from England. The brand 
     new United States of America numbered fewer than four million 
     souls. Wood correctly assumed this growing country was going 
     to need flour for baking, and his commitment to pure, high-
     quality flour fueled a successful business.


                          Enter John Low Sands

       One of the early employees was John Low Sands, who joined 
     the firm in 1820. It was the beginning of generations of 
     Sands family association with, and eventual ownership of the 
     company. Also a clue to how the company came to be based in 
     Vermont, as you'll soon see. By 1853, the company was doing 
     well enough to buy a large building on the Long Wharf in 
     Boston. There, in the middle of one of the world's busiest 
     ports, the business continued to grow, taking on partners as 
     it expanded. In less than 10 years the city of Boston had 
     filled in the harbor around the wharf, and the company became 
     landlocked without ever having moved. It stayed in the same 
     spot, with the revised address of 172 State St. until 1904, 
     when the company moved up the street to the Custom House.
       By 1895, the company was named Sands, Taylor, & Wood. The 
     third generation of the Sands family to be part of the 
     company, Orrin Sands, was its president. During this decade, 
     roller milling was developed in Hungary. As a result, it was 
     now possible to grind large quantities of wheat into flour 
     very quickly. This led to a boom in flour production, as well 
     as wild fluctuations in the quality of flour being produced.
       At the same time, George Wood and his business partners 
     attended a musical play based on the story of King Arthur and 
     his knights. They left the theater inspired by the 
     realization that the values portrayed in the play exemplified 
     what their company stood for: quality, integrity, purity, 
     loyalty, strength, and dedication to a higher purpose. They 
     resolved to rename their new flagship product, their all-
     purpose flour, after King Arthur. It was introduced at the 
     Boston Food Fair in September 1896, and became an immediate 
     success. The distinctive image of the medieval knight on his 
     horse adorned the tops of 196 pound barrels of flour for the 
     next four decades, until he started being printed on 
     newfangled paper bags.
       In the 1920s King Arthur on his steed appeared on the back 
     of a flatbed calliope truck that roamed the streets of Boston 
     and New York. In later decades the company gave scholarships 
     to promising young professional bakers, inserted collectible 
     picture cards of American military ships, airplanes, and 
     weapons in its flour bags during World War II, and after the 
     war sponsored radio shows where ``New England's Food Expert'' 
     Marjorie Mills endorsed King Arthur Flour on the air.


                          The move to Vermont

       The Sands family became the sole owners of the company in 
     1932, and in 1984, Frank (a Dartmouth alum) and his wife 
     Brinna Sands moved the company to Vermont. Tired of lugging 
     bags of flour to the post office to mail to retirees in 
     Florida who couldn't buy King Arthur outside of New England, 
     Brinna started The Baker's Catalogue in 1990.
       She also published the ``200th Anniversary Cookbook,'' 
     which has sold well over 100,000 copies to date.
       In a pivotal move, Frank and Brinna decided to sell the 
     company to their employees, launching King Arthurs Employee 
     Stock Ownership plan. The company has seen steady growth 
     since then.
       By 1999, the company officially changed its name to King 
     Arthur Flour, and the Baker's Catalogue was mailing six 
     million catalogues per year. Distribution of the flour to 
     grocery stores up and down the East Coast was well 
     established, and expanding steadily westward. In 2000, 
     Vermont Gov. Howard Dean was on hand to break an oversized 
     baguette in two to celebrate the opening of the bakery and 
     school in Norwich. In 2004 the company became 100 percent 
     employee-owned.
       With all of these changes, the principles that the company 
     began with survived and thrived. In 2007, King Arthur Flour 
     was a founding and certified B Corp. Its bylaws reflect a 
     commitment to all stakeholders, including the community and 
     the environment, as well as shareholders and business 
     partners.
       Now a national brand known for its quality, customer 
     service, and expertise in all things baking, King Arthur has 
     grown both

[[Page 15597]]

     the brand and its service programs. Bake for Good: Kids 
     teaches 8- to 12-year olds how to bake bread in a curriculum-
     based program that provides a community service component of 
     giving a loaf back to someone in need. King Arthur has long 
     had a policy of giving 40 paid hours of volunteer time to all 
     employees, full- and part-time.
       King Arthur's mission and personality is to be a resource 
     for all bakers. It maintains a robust social media presence 
     on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and on its blog, Flourish. 
     The website has thousands of tested recipes, and there's a 
     crew of baking experts on the Baker's Hotline ready to answer 
     any baking question, either by phone or via online chat.
       King Arthur is poised to further the quest for honest, 
     homemade, local food, by providing everything one needs to 
     bake. Lucky for the company, and Vermont, that appetite is 
     timeless, and a good apple pie is never going to go out of 
     style.


                        What's baking in Norwich

       Baking classes: You can always come and take a class at the 
     Baking Education Center in Norwich (no dishwashing 
     required!). The calendar of classes for home bakers, kids, 
     and professionals can be found at kingarthurflour.com/school.
       Cafe and bakery: The cafe and bakery are open daily 7:30 
     a.m. to 6 p.m. In September, the store's demonstration 
     kitchen will be showing all comers how to make their best pie 
     crust and baking with apples and cinnamon, chocolate and 
     pumpkin.
       Baker's Conference. From Sept. 9 to Sept. 12, King Arthur 
     will sponsor its Third Annual Baker's Conference, Tasting 
     Supper, and Harvest Festival at the King Arthur Baker's Store 
     and School in Norwich.
       The two-day conference features demonstrations, hands-on 
     classes, and breakout sessions with a roster of well-known 
     bakers, authors, recipe developers, photographers and 
     editors.
       The conference wraps up Friday evening, Sept. 11, with a 
     Tasting Supper to benefit Hunger Free Vermont, from 5:30 p.m. 
     to 7:30 p.m. Local food and beverage establishments will 
     offer samples, featuring fresh local foods and drink.
       The festival happens from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, 
     Sept. 12, with hands-on activities for kids, live baking 
     competitions, entertainment, and great food.
       For more festival information, go to kingarthurflour.com/
     bakers-harvest.


                        About King Arthur Flour

       Celebrating its 225th Anniversary, King Arthur Flour is 
     America's oldest flour company and premier baking resource, 
     offering ingredients, mixes, tools, recipes, educational 
     opportunities and inspiration to bakers everywhere since 
     1790. The company's flour is available in supermarkets 
     nationwide. Additionally, more than 1,000 tested and trusted 
     baking tools and ingredients are available through King 
     Arthur Flour's Baker's Catalogue, online at 
     kingarthurflour.com and at The Baker's Store in Norwich.

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