As America’s oldest flour company, King Arthur Baking Co. has seen a lot. It opened in 1790, when George Washington was president.
But little could have prepared it for the start of the coronavirus pandemic, when demand for King Arthur’s products jumped six-fold almost overnight. The company, based in Norwich, Vermont, scrambled to manage supply chains, ramp up production and to focus on in-demand items like bread flour.
CEO Karen Colberg, who worked in marketing at Gap Inc. before joining King Arthur in 2005, says the company leaned into its strengths. King Arthur already had a robust mail-order business, which makes up 30% of its sales, and it’s been sharing recipes and baking tips online for years.
“We built trust with the baker over decades,” Colberg said. “We didn’t have to react in the moment. That’s what we always did.”
Interest in home baking hasn’t subsided along with the virus. Bakers are now experimenting with more complex …