Our story
The Jordan family has run Holme flour mill in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire since 1855. In fact six generations of William Jordans have dedicated their lives to producing natural food. To find out more about these early days, click on the link below.
The history of the Jordan family and Holme mills
When brothers, Bill and David Jordan, formed W. Jordans (Cereals) Ltd in 1972, they weren’t strictly following in their forefathers’ footsteps. In the late 1960’s Bill had been travelling (playing drums in a rock band) in the US. In California, he came across the then embryonic ‘whole foods’ movement. Already an early convert to the benefits of eating wholegrain cereals thanks to his family’s heritage in flour milling, Bill returned home in 1969 determined to produce, delicious natural food which had been minimally processed and grown in a way that was positively beneficial for the countryside as well as the people who ate it.
Back in 1973 it was considered the norm in the UK for food to be highly processed and made with preservatives and artificial ingredients. Bill & David Jordan launched their first wholegrain breakfast cereal, Crunchy ‘G’ (the term ‘granola’ was under legal patent in the UK in 1972!) and it was totally different. Made from baked wholegrain oats and honey, it tasted great and was nutritionally much better for you than the highly processed flaked and puffed cereals that were popular at the time. We still sell our ‘Original Crunchy’ today – shortly to be renamed Crunchy Oats - it remains one of our best sellers.
In 1980 Bill and David then introduced the UK’s first ever cereal bar ‘Original Crunchy’ – as a whole food snacking alternative to chocolate. Then, in 1985, Bill worked with conservationists and environmentalists to launch the ‘Conservation Grade’ farming standard. Much of our home area of East Anglia had been subject to intensive farming during the 1960’s and 70’s resulting in massive environmental damage and British wildlife had suffered badly as a result. According to RSPB figures, farmland birds have declined in number by 70% since 1970. Bill recognised that as users of grain we could do something and decided to pay farmers to look after wildlife on their land. Jordans cereals are all still made with Organic or Conservation Grade grain grown on British farms, and we still work with farmers who have been farming to Conservation Grade standards for well over 20 years.
10% Wild ~ find out more about Conservation Grade
Today, Jordans continues to be run by Bill and David Jordan. We are now one of the largest UK-owned cereal manufacturers and producers of organic breakfast cereal products. Although we’ve grown, we’ve stayed close to our roots in Biggleswade where we are now the largest employer in the town. Over 350 skilled people work here to produce our breakfast cereal and cereal bars. Many people have worked with Bill and David since they started selling cereals in 1972 and even more of us have family members who have worked for Jordans going back over several generations.
These links really do matter to us. Our oldest employee, Pat, started working with Jordans flour mills in 1946 after returning from the war where he had served as a Sergeant Major. This year alone over 30 people will receive recognition for the length of time they have worked with Jordans ~ 7 of whom mark their 25th anniversary with us. All of this represents skill and experience that has been built up over many years and ensures we continue to make the very best quality and best tasting natural whole foods possible.
If you’re in the area, why not visit Mrs Jordan's Mill Shop, here at Holme Mills on the bank of the River Ivel. Run by Bill and David’s mother, it’s a real Aladdin’s cave of gourmet goodies, gifts and, naturally, our cereals and bars. Open Monday to Friday, in the morning from 9:30-1pm and from 2 -5pm in the afternoon, and on Saturday from 9am to 12.30pm. There are lots of great riverside walks on the doorstep too. Just visit www.ivelvalley.co.uk for some inspiration on routes and places to see.