Bob's Red Mill

Bob's Red Mill

The Moores moved to Portland, where Bob attended a seminary to study the Bible for several months.[19] Bob found a commercial flour mill in Oregon City that was for sale, painted it red, and went back into the flours business.[19] Moore bought millstones from the closed Boyd mill near Dufur, Oregon.[20] He acquired other stones from old mills in Indiana and Tennessee.[11] Bob's Red Mill Natural Foods went into business in 1978 and began producing stone ground flours and cereals for the local area. The product was sold direct through his store until he made a deal with the Fred Meyer grocery stores to carry his products.[13]

Starting in the 1980's Moore's own likeness began to appear on product packaging.[21] In 1983, Moore's employees approached him about buying into the company. He devised a profit-sharing plan as a result. By 1990, Moore was issuing monthly checks to employees who had been with the company for at least a year.

In 1988, annual sales to area health food stores and smaller grocers were approaching $3 million when the original mill was destroyed by an arsonist's fire.[22] The millstones were spared, as grain from the second floor fell on them in the fire, which extinguished the flames around the mills, keeping the quartz stones from shattering in the heat and preserving the gears that turned them.[11]

The company reopened in 1989[19] and built a new mill in Milwaukie, Oregon, unsuccessful in finding an existing mill that would do after Moore was flown around the state by friends. The couple borrowed $2.5 million to rebuild the factory and warehouse into a new 60000 sqft facility.[23][11] Bob continued to grow the business by working with small markets, local retail and larger wholesale customers, rather than a corporate approach. The new facility allowed them to introduce gluten-free products in the 1990s.[24] They were also one of the first flour mills to build laboratories that tested their products to certify organic and gluten-free compliance.[13][11]

In 1996, the Moores took on partners to expand and pay off their debt. Dennis Gilliam, who came from the printing business, became their vice-president of sales and marketing. John Wagner became vice-president of administration.[25] Gilliam expanded the company wholesaling with California-based Quality Brokerage and Nature's Best, the company's first large regional distributors.[11]

Wagner helped the company control debt by building and repairing machinery in-house, and through the purchasing of used machinery needed for expansion from older and closed mills like Seattle-based Fisher Mills, Inc.[11]

The company expanded internationally starting in 2000.[19] In 2003, Bob's Red Mill was a founding member of the Oldways Whole Grain Council, a food and nutrition nonprofit that promotes the use of whole grains.[26][15] In October 2003, the company opened its Whole Grain Store & Visitors Center, a 15000 sqft addition to its existing facility. It doubled as the company's new headquarters and featured an 18-foot-high operational water wheel, displays of historic milling equipment, a working stone mill, bookstore, and kitchen classroom.[27][28] In 2004, the company nearly doubled its warehouse and distribution operations when it moved to a 65000 sqft facility.[29] In 2005, it was estimated that Bob's Red Mill's annual revenue was between US$30 million and $50 million.[7]

As of 2005, its products were available in Japan and the company intends to expand distribution to other countries.[7] In June 2007, the company announced that it was moving both its administrative headquarters, and manufacturing and warehousing facility to a 325000 sqft building from its original 130000 sqft facility, which it planned to sell and sub-lease.[30] Its current manufacturing facility is 82000 sqft.[7] The new facility tripled the company's manufacturing capacity.[11]

Employee ownership

In February 2010, owner Bob Moore transferred one-third[31] of the company to his employees using an employee stock ownership plan.[6][32][10] By 2011, the company had 284 products, including 70 gluten-free items, and made more than $110 million in revenue.[13] In January 2014, the company opened a new 125000 sqft distribution center in Clackamas County. All storage and distribution activities were moved from the Milwaukie headquarters to this new facility.[33] In December 2017, Bob's Red Mill introduced a new Sourced Non-GMO Pledge emblem to all its product packaging to emphasize the company's commitment to sourcing only natural ingredients.[34]

By 2018, the company's annual revenue was estimated at more than $100 million.[35] In 2018, Charlee died and Bob retired as CEO but remained as president and board member.[36] COO Dennis Vaughn was announced as the company's new CEO.[37] By April 2020, 100% of the company was owned by its more than 700 employees.[10] In September 2021, Vaughn retired and CFO Trey Winthrop was elevated to CEO.[38] For years, Bob's Red Mill sold products over the phone, via mail order, and through its website, but the company stopped all direct to consumer operations in August 2022.[39] Moore died in 2024 at the age of 94.[40]