Flour and baking staples from Norwich, Vermont — America’s oldest flour company
✅ American Manufacturing
Where King Arthur Baking products are made
American-grown wheat
King Arthur began milling flour from American-grown wheat in the 1820s, when westward expansion made a domestic wheat supply possible and its predecessor could stop importing English wheat. That sourcing principle has held for two centuries.
Norwich, Vermont
After nearly 200 years headquartered in Boston, the company moved north to Norwich, Vermont in 1984. The campus at 135 US Route 5 South now houses the bakery, store and Baking Education Center; a second location operates in Skagit Valley, Washington.
Owned by the people who run it
In 1996 owners Frank and Brinna Sands began transferring the company to its workers, and King Arthur became 100% employee-owned in 2004. Employee-owners, not outside shareholders, set the standards the flour is held to.
King Arthur Baking mills its flour from American-grown wheat and has done so since the 1820s, and its Grains for Good program is working toward all flour being milled with 100% regeneratively grown wheat by 2030. This profile applies the American Manufacturing label rather than an unqualified Made in USA claim: King Arthur is a flour company that works with partner mills and farms rather than owning every step, and its broader catalogue includes baking ingredients and tools whose origins vary by item. The wheat and the milling are documented as domestic.
The story
King Arthur Baking was founded in 1790 — America’s first flour company, established when there were thirteen states in the new United States and George Washington was in his first term. Its predecessor, Henry Wood & Company, was importing English wheat to a young country that could not yet grow enough of its own.
That changed in the 1820s. As American farmers moved west and wheat farming flourished, the supply became bountiful enough that the company could stop importing English wheat and begin selling American-milled flour. It is a small line in the company’s history page and an enormous one in practice: the moment an American food company started sourcing at home.
The flour went where the country went. It fed miners during the 1849 California gold rush, and King Arthur’s own account runs from Martha Washington’s apple pie through the invention of the chocolate chip cookie — from flour sold in wooden barrels to the bags on the shelf today.
In 1984, after nearly two centuries headquartered in Boston, the company moved north to Norwich, Vermont. Over the next decade it grew quickly, opening the bakery and Baking Education Center on the Norwich campus. Then in 1996 owners Frank and Brinna Sands began handing the company to its workers, a transfer completed in 2004. King Arthur has been 100% employee-owned ever since, and a Certified B Corp since 2007.
Why they matter
A 236-year-old American company is rare enough. One that is still independent, still employee-owned, and still sourcing its primary raw material domestically is close to singular in packaged food, a category that has consolidated into a handful of multinational owners over the last forty years.
The ownership structure is not incidental to the product. An ESOP has no outside shareholder pressing for a cheaper input or a thinner spec, which is why King Arthur can commit to things like the Grains for Good target of milling all its flour from regeneratively grown wheat by 2030 — a goal that costs money now and pays off in soil quality over decades.
There is also the matter of who benefits. When Americans buy King Arthur flour, the wheat was grown by American farmers, and the profit accrues to the American employee-owners who milled and sold it. That is the full loop the Buy American argument is actually about, and this company has been closing it since the 1820s.
Featured products
Browse King Arthur Baking flours, mixes and baking tools available now in the Buy American Campaign store.
Frequently asked questions
How old is King Arthur Baking?
It was founded in 1790, making it America’s first flour company. By its own account it has been providing bakers with flour since the year after the Constitution took effect.
Where is King Arthur Baking based?
Norwich, Vermont, at 135 US Route 5 South, where it moved in 1984 after nearly 200 years headquartered in Boston. It also operates a location in Skagit Valley, Washington.
Is King Arthur Baking employee-owned?
Yes. Owners Frank and Brinna Sands began transferring the company to its workers in 1996, and it became 100% employee-owned in 2004. It has also been a Certified B Corp since 2007.
Where does King Arthur wheat come from?
American farms. The company began milling flour from American-grown wheat in the 1820s, and its Grains for Good program targets all flour being milled with 100% regeneratively grown wheat by 2030.