100 years in Raaba

Farina-Mühle: It all began with an escape from Ukraine

Reinhard Gitl is sales manager at Farina.

(Bild: Juergen Fuchs)

The well-known Farina mill in Raaba-Grambach is 100 years old - and is still doing well even after the baking boom during the pandemic. Why it all began with an escape story and why the old image of the miller is no longer true. 

The big boom is over. When the coronavirus brought social life to a standstill and people's own four walls became their almost exclusive place of residence, many people discovered their love of baking - and the demand for flour virtually exploded.

"We are now back to the level of 2019," says Bernhard Gitl, Sales Manager at Farina-Mühle in Raaba. And he doesn't seem worried: the plant is working at full capacity and runs around the clock in three shifts, orders are rolling in from England, Lithuania and Poland, and the company is already the undisputed market leader in southern Austria. And according to Gitl, demand for organic produce and awareness of good food has risen again recently - after inflation hit many consumers.

Every year, 100,000 tons of flour are produced in Raaba.

(Bild: Juergen Fuchs)

Müller family came from the Ukraine
There are not only economic successes to celebrate south of Graz, but also a milestone birthday: this year, the Farina mill is 100 years old. It was founded in 1924 by the Schedlbauer family of millers, who fled from Odessa (in what is now Ukraine) to Styria. At the time, it was the first durum wheat mill in Austria. In this segment, in which our Italian neighbors are considered leaders (keyword: pasta!), Farina is still number 1 in Austria today.

The Farina brand was introduced in 1964. At the beginning of the 1990s, the site near Raaba railroad station was expanded and a soft wheat mill was added. The family business was sold to the Vonwiller milling group in 2002, which is now known as the Goodmills Group. Other mill locations in Austria are Schwechat and Rannersdorf (Lower Austria).

We produce 100,000 tons of flour per year. The peak season up to Advent begins now.

Vertriebsleiter Bernhard Gitl

Romantic image of the past is long outdated
A visit to the Farina site in Raaba, recognizable from afar by the striking tower with the large photovoltaic system on the façade, also makes it clear that the job of a miller has little or nothing to do with the romanticized image of the profession in the past. Gitl: "Many people still have the image of a sack of flour over their shoulder. But it's a modern profession." The processes are standardized and highly technical, "we also have to meet all international food standards".

The company currently employs 50 people. Finding new millers on the market is no easy task, and the search for apprentices is also tricky. All the more reason to present career paths like that of Lisa Hierzer-Bacher, who started her apprenticeship 15 years ago and is now attending master school. Her goal: to become a plant manager.

More and more wheat from Vulkanland
Climate change has even strengthened Farina's regional roots in Styria. According to Gitl, Vulkanland in south-eastern Styria is now the best wheat-growing region in Austria: "The soils offer the best quality and the highest yields." A cooperation with 35 farmers from this region began in 2009 - varieties such as Farina wheat flour glatt are currently already made from 100 percent Vulkanland wheat.