Wise Wheat bread makes retail debut at Woolworths

AUSTRALIAN consumers can now buy bread containing flour milled from a unique high-fibre wheat thanks to an arrangement between miller Allied Pinnacle and Woolworths.

The flour is made Milled at Allied Pinnacle’s Kensington mill in Melbourne using AGT’s HAW1 wheat, which incorporates research done over many years by CSIRO in partnership with Limagrain and the Grains Research and Development Corporation.

The high-amylose variety yields flour with six times more fibre than regular wheat flour, and the variety, HAW1, falls into Grains Australia’s Australian Innovative Wheat classification, which covers varieties that sit in specialist supply chains.

Long road to retail

In 2017, CSIRO announced that it, along with Limagrain and GRDC, had formed Arista Cereal Technologies, which had developed wheat lines with high amylose content made possible by the reduced presence of two enzymes.

Arista in 2020 found a commercial partner with AGT, which bred HAW1, first grown commercially in 2021 by a handful of Victorian farmers, and last year grown by 13 in Victoria, and for the first time by four in the Riverina district of New South Wales.

Volume commercial exports of HAW1 started in March 2023, with leading Japanese miller Nisshin, the parent of Allied Pinnacle, the customer.

AP CEO David Pitt.

Allied Pinnacle chief executive officer David Pitt said the company was delighted to be rolling out its product in four lines at Woolworths in-store bakeries across Australia.

“We’ve been running lots of trials on the bread mix, and we set our sights on volumes of what we’d need initially to pick up a major customer such as Woolworths,” Mr Pitt said.

Wise Wheat white bread and rolls, and seed and grain bread and rolls, are available through Woolworths as of this month.

Mr Pitt said he hoped the avenues for Wise Wheat flour to make it into Australian diets could widen over time.

“It’s not a retail product at this point, but we certainly have grand plans for where this product could land.

“We’ve got a lot of bakers and small bakeries that are interested…and reports of its usability are good.”

Mr Pitt said Allied Pinnacle’s decision to launch Wise Wheat with Woolworths was aimed at addressing the “fibre gap” in Australian diets without turning away from bread as a staple.

“We can provide the consumer with a solution without asking them to change any habits.”

Allied Pinnacle has a long-term strategic partnership with the Australian Export Grain Innovation Centre, and calls on their expertise in both grain analysis and finished product testing.

“With the introduction of Wise Wheat, they have been a trusted resource for our ongoing resistant starch and total dietary fibre testing, as well as finished product nutritional analysis.”

In a statement, Woolworths merchandise manager – bakery Donald Keith echoed the sentiment.

“At Woolworths, we are committed to providing our customers with products that align with their evolving preferences for convenience and health,” Mr Keith said.

“Introducing Wise Wheat into a selection of our popular everyday bakery loaves and rolls offers an easy way for Australians to make healthier choices without sacrificing taste or convenience.”

To launch Wise Wheat, leading dietitian Dr Joanna McMillan will front a consumer campaign educating Australians on the fibre gap, both in consumption and knowledge.

Commissioned research by Allied Pinnacle conducted by YouGov in October 2024 based on a nationally represented sample of 1035 Australians aged 18 years and older found 28 percent of Australians consume 20 grams or less of fibre per day.

This is below the recommended daily intake of 25 grams for women and 30 grams for men.

Source: Allied Pinnacle