USW Demonstrates Hard Red Winter Wheat Performance to Chinese Customers
Chinese trading concern COFCO, as part of a commitment to purchase U.S. farm products, for the first time in recent history purchased hard red winter (HRW) wheat in marketing years 2019/20 and 2020/21. COFCO has purchased about 672,000 metric tons (MT) of HRW for immediate sale to Chinese flour mills.
On behalf of the farmers we represent, U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) helps buyers and end users make the best use possible of U.S. wheat. Because HRW has not been commonly used in China, the USW team in China decided to sample and test the wheat purchased to demonstrate the usefulness of this versatile class.
A representative sample of HRW for the study came directly from a COFCO shipment taken at a port in southern China’s Guangdong Province.
Thoughtful Test Design
USW Technical Specialist Dr. Ting Liu thoughtfully designed the study. After referring to some customer inquiries and previous studies done on HRW for various regional markets, Dr. Liu and USW Country Director Shirley Lu selected several end use applications to test using different flour blends with HRW that could be measured for performance against locally produced control flours.
The USW team worked closely with local flour mills and the Sino-American Baking School (SABS) in Guangzhou to mill the HRW sample on a Buhler laboratory mill. They analysed the characteristics of single HRW flour and blends with flour from U.S. hard red spring (HRS) and soft white (SW) wheat. Nine end products were produced and tested, including pan and sweet breads, sweet rolls, hamburger buns, baguettes, croissants, pizza dough, noodles and steamed breads.
“After some very intensive work in the test bakery, the hard red winter single flour and blends cooperated so well our team decided to run some tests twice to confirm the stellar results they observed,” said USW Regional Vice President for China and Taiwan Jeff Coey.
Sharing Results
On Aug. 14, 2020, USW conducted an online presentation to share the test results with an estimated 200 contacts from China’s mills and wheat trading organizations. The presentation focused on measured HRW wheat and flour quality, along with results of the baking tests. USW also shared typical HRW quality data from the 2019/20 crop and initial information on conditions of the 2020/21 crop.
In opening remarks to the participants, Coey said “in terms of end use quality, I want to advise you to consider U.S. hard red winter a very reliable medium- to high-gluten strength wheat that should perform well for you in a variety of your most demanding applications.”
The USW Beijing team greatly appreciates the cooperation of: COFCO for the chance to sample an actual HRW shipment; the Wheat Marketing Center, Portland, Ore., for data from their previous work on pizza dough and noodle results; the SABS staff who helped USW conduct its tests before its regular course schedule started; and several Chinese flour mills who allowed USW to use their instrumentation to help complete the testing.
Additional specific results or the tests are available from the USW Beijing office and the regional USW office in Hong Kong.
