At King Arthur Flour, we like to share with the world not just our passion, but our compassion. From providing meals and fresh-baked treats to our local shelters, to sending aid to hurricane-ravaged states; from teaching Dominicans to bake in their volunteer-built ovens, to feeding the hungry nationwide through regular donations to Share Our Strength, we’re always looking for ways to help make the world a better place. It’s a commitment we make to ourselves, our communities, and generations to come.

Employee ownership

King Arthur Flour is a 100% employee-owned company. That means that each person working here has a real stake in the company’s success - or failure. We strive to offer the highest quality ingredients, tools, and service for our customers, because we believe that’s the right way to do business. We also strive to be a positive force in our communities - locally, nationally, and in the business world - because we believe in “doing well by doing good.” Through our efforts, we hope to inspire our customers and partners so we may all work together toward a better world. We are proud and honored to have been named one of the Wall Street Journal’s Top Small Workplaces and included on the WorldBlu List of Most Democratic Workplaces in 2008, and named the Best Place to Work in Vermont - Large Company Division in both 2006 and 2007. We are also an active member of both the Vermont Employee Ownership Center and The ESOP Association.

B Corporation

King Arthur Flour is proud to be a founding B (Beneficial) Corporation (www.bcorporation.net), a designation created to help customers better understand the social and environmental impact of the companies with whom they do business. The B seal means that a company is committed to making positive business decisions, such as providing a living wage and health insurance for workers, lessening their impact on the environment, and giving back to the community.

Community

Volunteer Program

All King Arthur employee-owners are encouraged to volunteer in the community through our volunteer program, which provides each employee with up to 40 hours of paid time per year to spend helping any nonprofit agency they choose (some recent examples include Habitat for Humanity, American Cancer Society, Special Olympics, and a local humane society). Our stewardship team regularly organizes company wide service events to make it easier for people to get involved.

Charitable donations

King Arthur Flour makes regular and generous charitable donations, with a particular focus on New England-based organizations, food and nutrition, and sustainability. In the past year, King Arthur Flour has made donations to more than 250 nonprofit organizations sharing 5% of our profits. If your 501(c)(3) organization would like to request a donation from King Arthur Flour, please carefully review our Donation Guidelines, and then submit our Donation Request Form. Only written requests will be considered.

The King Arthur Bakery and Baking Education Center make regular donations of baked goods to local hunger relief agencies. We also support the national anti-hunger organization Share Our Strength each holiday season. And in cooperation with our distributor partners, our flour is regularly donated to food banks across the country. Additionally, Vermont Public Radio broadcasts from donated space at our headquarters in Norwich, VT.

Looking to raise money for your non-profit organization or school? King Arthur Flour has partnered with Vermont-based Red Barn Fundraising to assist non-profit organizations and groups in their fundraising efforts. We’re currently offering several of our baking mixes and premium cake kits through this program. For more information, visit RedBarnFundraising.com.

Educational programs

King Arthur Flour offers free educational programs around the country to share the life skill (and the joy) of baking. Our Life Skills Bread Baking Program® has taught more than 100,000 middle-school students to bake bread, then provided ingredients for them to share that bread with local food banks. Our Traveling Baking Demos bring free bread-baking demonstrations to more than 8,000 people around the country each year.

Natural environment

As an ardent advocate of sustainable living, King Arthur Flour’s stewardship team devotes itself to environmental sustainability on a company and local level, working on projects ranging from enhancing recycling and food-waste programs, to reducing energy use. We have actively supported the development of a community walking trail which crosses the backyard of The Baker’s Store at our company headquarters. It is a great asset to the community, and a nice place for employees to catch a lunchtime walk.

King Arthur Flour is a member of the Vermont Business Environmental Partnership, a voluntary environmental assistance and business recognition program aimed at promoting improved environmental and economic performance. As a Vermont Business Environmental Partner, we are committed to protecting the environment, the health and safety of our employees, and the community in which we conduct our business. It is our policy to seek improvements throughout our business operations to lessen our impact on the local and global environment by conserving energy, water, and other natural resources; reducing waste generation; recycling and purchasing recycled products; and reducing our use of toxic products. We are committed to pollution prevention, continual improvement and meeting or exceeding all environmental and regulatory requirements.

King Arthur Flour employee-owners are annual participants in Green Up Day, taking time during the first week of May each year to clean up litter in our community. In addition, King Arthur Flour provided financial support for the effort by sponsoring Green Up Day 2008.

Perhaps most meaningful, King Arthur Flour holds steadfast to its commitment to sell flour without the harsh chemical additives most U.S. flour manufacturers include. Our commitment to all-natural flour never wavers, and we hold steadfast to our centuries-old tradition of purity, both for the consumer and the environment.

Our position on genetically modified wheat

Because of the many uncertainties surrounding genetically modified wheat, and based on input from our customers and employee-owners, King Arthur Flour does not support the introduction of genetically modified wheat, nor its use in King Arthur flours. For more than 200 years, King Arthur Flour has provided customers with flour products that are pure and naturally wholesome. Using genetically modified wheat as the basis for King Arthur flours would run counter to our centuries-old commitment to natural quality, so we don’t do it, plain and simple.