Home is an ear of corn to us.
With our regional concept ‘HeimatÄhre’, we bring together the best of Baden-Württemberg: natural raw materials, responsibility and genuine baking craftsmanship.
HeimatÄhre stands for regionally grown grain – 100% of our wheat, spelt and rye comes from Baden-Württemberg.* This is where regional agriculture and traditional baking meet – two things that simply belong together.
What is particularly important to us is complete transparency, maximum safety and sustainable quality. For the baking trade. And for our variety of baked goods.
* Provided that the harvest quantities meet our high quality standards.
The cornerstones of our ‘HeimatÄhre’ quality promise:
- We support regionally and transparently produced baked goods of the highest quality and absolute freshness from artisan bakeries.
- Our HeimatÄhre flours are made exclusively from wheat, rye and spelt grown in Baden-Württemberg. We source the vast majority of our grain from the same suppliers every year.
- The grain for our HeimatÄhre products comes from resource-saving, sustainable agriculture in the region – we do not have long transport routes.
- Our flours have consistently high baking properties.
‘HeimatÄhre’ is a commitment to our homeland. Not only we as a grain mill, but also more and more tradition- and environmentally-conscious bakers and consumers pay attention to quality and the origin of their ingredients and food when shopping… and not just the price!
Working closely with local farmers
Together with our regional farmers, we as a mill take responsibility and make an active contribution to nature conservation and the preservation of biodiversity.
We carefully select the grain for our flours. We accompany it from sowing to harvest. Our cultivation advisors work closely with our partners in agriculture and discuss specialist topics such as fertilisation, plant protection, crop rotation, biodiversity, quality, etc.
Our mission at the mill?
To transform healthy, ripe grain into high-quality flour. This applies to the entire HeimatÄhre milling process: First, the grain undergoes multi-stage cleaning, then it is ground, sifted and carefully broken down, until it is finally refined in the so-called passage, where the crushed grain components are refined into grist, semolina, fine semolina and flour in increasingly fine sieves. State-of-the-art technology, responsible use, full transparency.
The result? Unique flour, no unnecessary additives and the HeimatÄhre label as proof of regional origin and unique quality. Your customers appreciate this. And it pays off for you as an artisan baker: short distances, the most valuable grain, sustainability, regionality – for a strong craft and bread diversity.
HeimatÄhre as a pioneer in our region
HeimatÄhre goes one step further, especially for our region: together with our farmers, we are creating large flowering areas that remain in place well beyond the harvest period. With this pilot project, we are creating habitats for fauna and flora and contributing to the preservation of biodiversity.
Your HeimatÄhre bakers
FAQs
Here we answer the most frequently asked questions about our ‘HeimatÄhre’ regional concept. If you have any further questions, please feel free to send us an e-mail.
What does ‘HeimatÄhre’ mean?
A clear commitment to the region, to craftsmanship and to sustainably produced food. As we know almost all of our partners in agriculture and regional grain trading personally and maintain close contact with them, ‘HeimatÄhre’ is an obvious idea for us, one that we have consistently developed further.
To this end, we do not just visit our partners sporadically, but exchange ideas regularly on site.
Our cultivation advisors follow the production cycle of the grain from sowing to harvest, always at the side of the farmers, whom we advise and support on request in variety selection, cultivation issues, plant protection measures and harvesting.
We even support our farmers with transporting the harvested grain to our mill, if desired. This ensures that the grain remains in the region during the harvest season.
Where does our grain come from?
The wheat and spelt that we process at Rettenmeier Mill come exclusively from Baden-Württemberg.
We have not yet fully achieved this goal with rye. However, thanks to intensive cooperation with our partners in the value chain, we are confident that we will achieve this goal in the near future.
Which cereals are grown in the ‘HeimatÄhre’ quality programme?
Classic bread grains:
- Common wheat
- Spelt
- Rye
Which mills process and distribute grain from the ‘HeimatÄhre’ quality programme?
In Baden-Württemberg, only Rettenmeier Mühle processes grain with the ‘HeimatÄhre’ quality label and adheres to the strict guidelines. In Bavaria, Bavaria Mühle produces “HeimatÄhre” milled products according to the same concept. In addition, Schwarzwälder Mühle is also permitted to sell ‘HeimatÄhre’ milled products under this label.
Who is eligible to participate in the ‘HeimatÄhre’ quality programme?
Only farms that operate in accordance with the HeimatÄhre cultivation and purchasing guidelines and whose grain is grown on selected fields in the region.
What are the farmer's obligations?
Our farmers and partners in the grain trade are committed to acting in accordance with the latest agronomic and best environmental practices as part of our quality programme. These include consideration of
- sustainability
- conservation of resources
- preservation of biodiversity
- selection of optimal and healthy crop rotations
- minimal use of fertilisers and pesticides
What obligations do we assume as a mill?
We work with farmers to develop and provide variety recommendations.
On request, we provide farmers with expert advisors who can answer all their questions about quality and cultivation techniques.
We provide free transport capacity during the harvest.
With our large collection capacities, we help to minimise the distance that grain travels from the farm to the processor.
We put together the optimal grain mixtures and grind them according to our customers’ quality requirements and recipe specifications, meeting the highest quality standards that far exceed the legal requirements for hygiene and technology.
We ensure the stable and, above all, consistent quality of our grain products through fully automated process control, monitoring and management.
With our flowering area project, in which we work in close partnership with our farmers to create flowering areas several metres wide in grain fields, we are setting an example for the preservation of biodiversity.
How secure is our ‘HeimatÄhre’?
We check compliance with the ‘HeimatÄhre’ cultivation guidelines by regularly visiting farms, fields and storage facilities.
We check and assess every batch delivered to the mill for quality, sensory properties and, in particular, any contamination.
Our mill has a fully equipped grain and flour laboratory, where we examine every batch of grain delivered to us in detail.
We carry out regular tests for pesticides, mycotoxins, heavy metals and other residues and contaminants.
We only use transport companies that have been checked by us and are GMP+ certified.
How can I tell if I am buying a product from the ‘HeimatÄhre’ quality programme?
The following label identifies products from the ‘HeimatÄhre’ quality programme:
Participating bakeries display the label and the certificate of participation in their shops.
Participating bakeries may use the label after inspection, if desired.
What distinguishes baked goods from the ‘HeimatÄhre’ quality programme from others?
Customers buy HeimatÄhre baked goods with a clear conscience because…
…they are regionally and transparently produced foods that originate from a partnership between producers, mills and bakers.
…HeimatÄhre bakers place great importance on the quality and safety of their raw materials and on self-contained regional production and supply chains.
… they can fully identify with our ‘Flowering areas for the preservation of biodiversity’ project….
the carbon footprint for these quality baked goods is small due to short transport routes and low goods turnover.