Behind the Scenes: Bob's Red Mill
Wednesday, August 31, 2011 at 7:38PM 
When I arrived in Portland on Friday for Vida Vegan Con, I took a shuttle from the airport straight to University Place, where VVC was taking place and a group of early arrivals were meeting to take a tour of the headquarters of the legendary grainery, Bob's Red Mill.
I met a couple awesome new vegan friends upon entering the hotel, and was offered a ride in a minivan with automatic doors driven by a friendly vegan family. What a great start to the weekend!
Grains galore! Bob's makes over 400 products, so this is just a small sampling.
When we arrived at Bob's, we were ushered by a nice dude who admired my Lakers snapback into the factory, where we met a super friendly Bob's executive. She gave us the rundown of all things Bob's, from schedules to educational programs to menu development at their cafe and more.
After showing us a short video, we met our tour guide and began the tour. Along with hearing the history of Bob's, we were able to peer through plexiglass windows onto the production line, where hundreds of 200-pound bags of processed grain sat. We were able to see the packaging machines, maintenance workers and safety measures taken to ensure the highest quality of products.
Real grain stone mill like the ones used in production at Bob's.
After the tour, we drove down the road about a mile to have lunch at Bob's Grain Store and Cafe, which has a large variety of vegan options for breakfast and lunch.
I opted for the vegan burger, which was a veggie patty on a freshly baked homemade bun, with lettuce, tomato, vegenaise and a choice of Daiya. It wasn't anything extra special, but it was a solid lunch for a good price, and that freshly baked bun was out of control.
The tour is free, so if you live in the greater Portland area or happen to be visiting, take a morning to go see what makes a great American small business. You can get inspired, learn a thing or two, go shopping, and have a vegan meal all for under $10.
Bob's Red Mill, Portland, flour, gluten free, gluten-free, mill, natural, organic, stone ground, vegan, vegetarian, whole grains in FOOD, NATURAL PRODUCTS, NEWS, PORTLAND, RESTAURANTS, VEGAN, VEGETARIAN
Reader Comments (1)
Vegan Cookie Recipe to dip in the 8th Continent Soy Milk Coupon:
Take 2-4 cups raw cashews put all ingredients into a food processor.
Add agave nector (Raw) or any local honey, or Maple syrup ( some are sweeter than others so you must taste your mixture) 1-3 tbl. then add vegan chocolate chips, as much as you like, but 1 cup should be fine. Then add 1/2 cup rolled oats. Blend all together, but do not let it get to smooth, then put on a dehydrator til the choc melts, and the cookies hardens up a little. Sample and see which texture you like best. These are yummie. Rawsome Living Facebook.