Stored wheat from the UK is being used as a ’contingency’ plan to make flour in the island.

Laxey Glen Mills confirmed that Covid-19 has driven an ’unprecedented demand’ for flour in 2020.

It appears that although the initial rush to the shops waned many people have since fallen in love with baking bread at home so the demand for flour has remained high.

A spokesman for the 150-year-old business says the ’resulting uplift has meant Laxey Glen Mills using up its Isle of Man wheat stocks faster than usual.

’Especially the wheat we use to make Flavo (plain) and Sunrise (self-raising) flour varieties’.

The spokesman said: ’The new harvest has brought fresh Isle of Man wheat in from the fields and whilst this is going to make great flour, unfortunately it is still not sufficient to cover all our needs.

’We thought this might happen and earlier in 2020 we made sure we had additional wheat from the UK in storage as a contingency plan.

’It is now the right time start to using this wheat to ensure we can keep island shelves, pantries and kitchen cupboards full of Manx Milled Flour.

’Still perfectly pure and still additive free; all our wheat, regardless of its origin is still cleaned, graded, milled and packaged by our small and dedicated team here in Laxey.

’As it has been since 1860.’

In June we reported that Laxey Glen Mills had doubled its production to keep flour and bread on the shelves of the island’s shops and supermarkets.

For the mill’s new strategic development manager, Matthew Baptist, who arrived in the island at the start of lockdown, it meant ’the greatest learning curve’.

Mr Baptist said: ’What no one could have anticipated was the upheaval of the Covid crisis: the rush from customers to stock up on the basic necessities like flour leaving many supermarket shelves stripped bare. It was a unique start to a job, straight into the challenge Covid presented.

’Managing our way through something like this is not something anyone has experienced before.’