May 3, 12:58 p.m.
Baking flour joins the list of things hard to find in stores amid the coronavirus outbreak. The reason could be simply that people are baking more, Carey Underwood, who is director of mission-driven partnerships and programs at King Arthur Flour, said. "People who were baking monthly are now baking weekly, and people who were baking weekly are baking daily," Underwood said. "We expect this increase in baking to continue for the foreseeable future as trends show more in-home eating compared to dining out and people choosing to bake the food staples they cannot find in their grocery stores." Underwood clarified the shortage in grocery stores is because of the spike in demand for flour, not because there is a shortage of wheat. "The demand for all signature flours, but especially all-purpose and bread flours, is simply unprecedented and is outpacing the inventory in our warehouses," she said. Super markets have also noticed the higher demand for flour. βOn average, since the middle of March, we have seen nearly triple the demand for products such as flour, sugar and baking ingredients like yeast," Dwight Richmond, Director of Center Store Merchandising for The Fresh Market, said.