How Does Regeneratively Grown Flour Compare to Conventional Flour? Putting ‘Climate Blend’ Flour to the Test

In November I reported on a newly launched product from King Arthur Baking Company, a company that sells flours and other baking products. The product in question? Regeneratively-Grown Climate Blend, a whole wheat flour product that is supposed to be more sustainable than conventionally grown or even organic flours.

As an avid baker, I was curious how this flour, which the company said could change in taste and texture from harvest to harvest, would perform in recipes, especially when compared to whole wheat flour.

Here’s how the Climate Blend flour stacked up to standard, whole wheat flour.

What Is Regeneratively-Grown Climate Blend Flour?

First things first — let’s get to know more about the product. The Vermont-based flour and baking goods company King Arthur Baking Company recently announced the Regeneratively-Grown Climate Blend, a whole wheat flour made from regeneratively grown wheat varietals. 

Regenerative agricultural practices involve tending to crops with the least amount of disturbance possible in order to promote better soil health. These practices have long been used by Indigenous cultures. 

For the farms working with King Arthur Baking Company to produce Climate Blend, regenerative practices may include rotating crops, cover cropping, no or limited tilling, and minimizing inputs, such as fertilizers.

The first batch of Climate Blend flour was made in partnership with Bock Family Farm and Linker Farms. The product has also been developed in partnership with the Breadlab at Washington State University.

Ultimately, the company plans to work with more farms using regenerative practices, as King Arthur has a target for all of its flour to be sourced from regeneratively grown wheat by 2030.

One thing that King Arthur pointed out in its product announcements was that although Climate Blend flour should perform similarly to conventional whole wheat flour, it may taste different year after year, especially if yields are impacted by climate change.

These subtle shifts in flavor and texture, both with different batches of Climate Blend and in comparison to conventional flour, intrigued me. So I decided to buy a bag of this flour and get to baking.

Ordering the Climate Blend Flour

The first obstacle in this experiment was actually getting my hands on a bag of this flour. According to King Arthur, the Climate Blend is available at Whole Foods or to order online. Unfortunately for me, the Whole Foods store near me does not yet stock it, so that left me with ordering it online.

That means that aside from the hassle of waiting around for the flour to arrive to my door vs. just picking up a bag at the store during my usual grocery trip, I also had to consider the shipping emissions for this little bag of flour. According to the shipping label, the flour came to my apartment in Los Angeles, California from White River Junction, Vermont.

Climate Blend Flour Cost

This Climate Blend flour comes at a premium cost compared to conventional flour. I don’t mind spending a little bit more money on more sustainable grocery items, but environmentally friendly flour is something I can get at a decent price from a local zero-waste shop near me.

A two-pound bag of Climate Blend flour costs $5.95. The whole wheat flour from the local zero-waste shop near me costs $2.45 per pound, or $4.90 for two pounds. For comparison, King Arthur Baking Company’s organic whole wheat flour costs $10.95 for a five-pound bag, which breaks down to $2.19 per pound or $4.38 for two pounds.

All in, the small bag of Climate Blend flour itself is over one dollar more expensive than other whole wheat flours. 

But the real downside is the shipping costs. Because I couldn’t source this flour in person, I opted to have it shipped. This isn’t something I could afford to do regularly, though, as shipping for this bag of flour cost me a whopping $9.95 (which I understand, especially for cross-country shipping).

Between the shipping cost and emissions to ship that far, I knew right away this would be a one-time purchase for me until the Climate Blend flour is more readily available in local stores.

Baking With Climate Blend

I decided to follow a recipe from the King Arthur Baking Company for Climate Blend Whole Wheat Scones. I used this recipe with both the Climate Blend flour and conventional whole wheat flour for comparisons. But I want to note that the baking recipe is not vegan. I followed the recipe as written, but these scones could be made even more environmentally friendly by experimenting with the recipe to sub out the dairy and egg products for plant-based alternatives.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the entire baking process, from working with the dough to baking it in the oven, was identical with both types of flour. I didn’t notice any differences visually just by looking at the two flours side by side.

I didn’t find that the Climate Blend was any different in texture or workability when making the scone dough, and both batches of scones baked up to the same height and color in the oven.

So next came the real test: tasting the baked goods made with these two types of flours.

Climate Blend Flour Compared to Conventional Flour

The two batches of scones looked and smelled identical, and I was glad I took extra care to separate them. Otherwise, I would have quickly mixed up the batches.

I tried each scone completely plain first, then with just a little bit of jam. The taste difference between the scone made with Climate Blend flour and the conventional whole wheat flour was hardly noticeable, especially with the bites with jam, but I did detect some slight differences.

The scone made with Climate Blend had an ever-so-slightly richer flavor. It was a bit nuttier and slightly sweeter, despite being extremely careful with all of my measurements to keep the doughs as the same as possible. 

The flavor differences were barely noticeable, but I did prefer the nuances in taste in the scone made with Climate Blend. Of course, if I weren’t comparing the two side by side, it would have tasted like a regular ol’, albeit delicious, scone.

Final Thoughts

All in all, I only noticed the most subtle difference in flavor to the Climate Blend flour, and that flavor difference was actually better than standard whole wheat, in my opinion. At least in the scone recipe, the flours behaved exactly the same, producing two batches of excellent scones. 

For those who bake often, this means shifting to Climate Blend may not be as intimidating. In my small experiment, it was easy to swap whole wheat flour for Climate Blend without any discernible differences in taste or texture. But it would be interesting to try this product in other recipes and to try it again a year from now to see if the flour has changed.

The biggest difference between the two flours was the price, especially considering that I was only able to access the flour by ordering it online. I look forward to King Arthur switching entirely to flours made with regeneratively grown wheat, and I hope that makes the flour more accessible.