Free Shipping is No More at Bob’s Red Mill

[BakerAunt]

I went to the Bob's Red Mill site last week to place an order and was disappointed to see that BRM no longer offers free shipping for orders over $59. The offer never included the 25 lb. bags, but it was still good, since I could purchase by the case, and I would regularly stock up, as I last did February 24. They use UPS, and I suspect that a rise in delivery rates has made any free shipping (I would have been fine with their increasing the minimum) prohibitive.

I ended up taking my business to Walmart.com where I could get free shipping on a two-pack of BRM quinoa, and I could also find a vendor that sells black beans, which BRM stopped selling, and that also sells sunflower seeds at a better price.

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[aaronatthedoublef]

Walmart, at least for now (and by me) offers free shipping for $40 and up which pretty good. They are scared to death of Amazon. But they also let various vendors sell through their website so I've seen ridiculous things like $49 for a 5lb bag of KAB white whole wheat. Same thing happens on Amazon.

I have two 25lb bags of flour I bought from Central Milling. The shipping was $35 and the flour was $35 so it was still less expensive than buying at the local grocery store. The bakery I was baking for used their flour and it was pretty nice.

There is a place I just discovered down in Pennsylvania and I may try them next but I have a good amount of flour for the next few months.

[Mike Nolan]

When we drive to visit our son and family in Pittsburgh I tend to stop at Stover Company in Cheswick to buy flour and couverture grade chocolate, but that's nearly at the western end of PA. I've never ordered from them online, their shipping prices are high, but that's not unusual any more. I ordered a 25 pound bag of BRM semolina online, shipping was almost as expensive as the flour itself, but still less per pound than what it costs locally.

Amazon collects their annual fee for Prime memberships (which is going up soon if it hasn't already) but I'm not sure how much of that they share with their 3rd party vendors, and I've gotten some things on Prime that couldn't possibly have made much profit for the 3rd party vendor. (Amazon charges them for the space they take up in an Amazon warehouse, too.)

BTW, Amazon is apparently going to start tagging which of their vendors are 'small businesses', though I don't know how they determine that.

[Mike Nolan]

The last 'free shipping' offer from King Arthur had a $75 threshold.

[BakerAunt]

I cannot always find the BRM items that I use locally. The in-town store has some items at a definite mark-up. I need to start checking when we go to Walmart in the next town. The Kroger there has some items, but it is rare to find the whole wheat flour, and I have never seen the Artisan Bread flour there. No place around here carries their beans, and only some of the grains are available. I knew that I could not find the quinoa locally.

BRM has also cut back its product line. I had to go to Walmart.com last year to get barley flour from another company because BRM no longer carries it. Sunflower seeds were not on their site anymore, so again, I used Food for Life at Walmart for those and for the black beans. I'm not sure that I will be able to find BRM milk powder, and I depend on it for my yogurt and for fortifying non-yeast breads and cookies.

BRM also used to sell wonderful, dried cherries and dried apple pieces

I pay the Baker's Plus annual fee at King Arthur, so shipping is free for purchases over $25, and I earn Baker's Bucks to use on future purchases. I have enough "must have" products to make it worthwhile: cheese powder, special dry milk, large packages of yeast, pumpernickel and medium rye flour, baking powder, espresso powder, white whole wheat flour, malted wheat flakes, Harvest Grains. They appear to have stopped carrying the Pompanusuc porridge, which is a pity, but I still have a stash in the refrigerator.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I think BRM has been struggling for a while trying to figure out what they are going to be.

And, as they are trying to go national, I think the bread/baking trends are receding. While that's happening more and more people are looking to buy from smaller, local mills if they can. Granted, I just said I bought from a big miller out west but that's because I wanted to lay in some flour before the prices went up too much. My boss at the bakery has an extra building and is thinking of setting up a mill for himself.

BRM was a bargain because of their shipping but they won't be anymore. And I would sign up for the KAB club if it offered free shipping but I'm not going to pay for a club AND have a minimum order. But it seems to be working for them. They have stuff I really like and I have enough to last while I find reasonable substitutes. How is Penzey's cinnamon?

I don't remember if I wrote about this but back in Dec/Jan UPS was offering $27 to start in an entry level job that required no skills and only a high school diploma. Full benefits started on day 1 of the job. And they were having trouble finding people. Fedex started doing the same. At the same time a gallon of gas increase $1.21 on average from Feb 2021 to Feb 2022. There is no way they could NOT raise shipping prices to keep up.

Oh, and the politicians in my town think these are garbage jobs (yes they said that to me).

[Mike Nolan]

About the only thing I buy directly from King Arthur any more is the baker's special dry milk, and that's hardly worth placing an order with them.

I've been using the BRM white pastry flour, which I can get in 5 pound bags at Natural Grocers. That's somewhere around a year's supply for me.

KAF AP is now $7.99 for a 12 pound bag at Costco, but that's still the lowest price around. The last time I checked Target still had KAF bread flour well below the King Arthur online price.

Something I haven't found anywhere lately is the Seventh Generation powdered dishwasher detergent, I can find a gel and tablets, neither of which I want to use. The two major brands both have scents my wife can't tolerate. Target had a house brand lemon-scented dishwasher powder, I will try it if I can't find the other anywhere.

[BakerAunt]

BRM is moving toward some food products, such as energy bars and crackers. Their bars have too much saturated fat for me, and the crackers are extremely salty. They also came out with instant oatmeal packets, and I like theirs better than Quaker Oats packets. However, we only use packets when we are traveling. I think there are also some grain side dishes in development.

Mike's comment reminded me that I also like their white pastry flour, which I combine with their whole wheat pastry flour for my pie crusts.

[BakerAunt]

Aaron--Penzey's has fabulous cinnamon. I buy their Korintje Cassia in the largest bag I can get, then put it into a large jar and fill my small one--and the even smaller one my husband uses for his oatmeal--as needed. I have also tried their China cinnamon, which has a slightly sharper bite and is great in baked goods where the cinnamon is the sole spice.

Penzey's has great deals throughout the year. I regret that I missed the recent shipping special since we were away a wedding. I buy my spices from them in bags, once I have the jars, and that cuts down on waste and reduces the price.

[chocomouse]

I love Penzey's -- the spices and the stores, and they do have really good deals. I've been to a lot of specialty spice shops around the US, and Penzey's is the best; the smells are amazing. It's an experience not to miss if you ever get the chance to shop there. I second BakerAunt, the cinnamon is terrific.

[Mike Nolan]

Here's a good reminder on the 4 types of cinnamon:
https://www.webstaurantstore.com/blog/3782/cinnamon-types.html

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks everyone. There is even a Penzy's nearby so I'll check their cinnamon. We're actually coming out of peak use season. I bake with it more in the fall/winter and my kids love it in hot chocolate. They're trying to approximate Mexican coco I think. I use the Vietnamese cinnamon from KAB.

That leaves one thing I have not been able to find anywhere else - black coco. I asked at Penzey's about it and they said "sorry, but I think King Arthur's has it." 😉

[Mike Nolan]

Several sources for black cocoa powder come up online.

[cwcdesign]

My favorite cinnamon is KAF’s Vietnamese cinnamon. I’ve tried others, but I like the depth of flavor.

We were doing a wine tasting at work this afternoon - everyone liked different ones - everyone’s palate is different so we all have different preferences.

KAF does have black cocoa powder - Mrs Cindy sent me my first package of it - she always put some in the bottom of her measuring cups before adding whatever cocoa powder she was using. My favorite is still their double dark cocoa blend.

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