A lot of people talk about “farm to fork,” but few — if any — do it better than Wheat Montana. The Three Forks, Mont.-based company operates a 15,000-acre farm that supplies grain to the industry. It mills its own wheat for retail sale and use in its 60,000-square-foot facility, where it makes bread and buns for retail, food service and its own deli attached to the bakery.
During her visit, Joanie Spencer, Baking & Snack’s editor/managing editor, discovered that Wheat Montana holds a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for creating the fastest loaf of bread, from farm to finished product.
In 1995, founder Dean Folkvord and his team attempted to make 13 loaves of bread live on the “Today” show in less than 9 minutes. Harvesting the wheat at 5:30 a.m. in the rain led to a bit of a flop on “Today.” But Mr. Folkvord, with the work ethic of a farmer-turned-baker, refused to call it quits and got the job done for local media later that afternoon. Final result: 8 minutes, 24 seconds.
Today, Ms. Spencer noted that Wheat Montana is led by John Khoury, president and chief executive officer, an industry veteran who also has that quintessential passion for creating food. And he’s leading people like Jason Kovnesky, Wheat Montana’s plant manager, who holds a business degree from Georgetown University and is now on his way to Master Baker certification from the Retail Bakers Association.
Look for Mr. Khoury, Mr. Kovnesky and Mr. Folkvord at IBIE 2016 in Las Vegas and at future industry conferences.
