You’ve seen his face on every bag of steel-cut oats or almond flour in the grocery aisle. The white beard, the red vest, the newsie cap—Bob Moore looked less like a high-powered CEO and more like a guy who’d fix your tractor and then offer you a bowl of porridge. But don’t let the "folksy" vibe fool you. Bob Moore Red Mill isn’t just a brand name; it’s a massive global operation that moves hundreds of millions of dollars in product every year.
Honestly, the most shocking thing about Bob Moore wasn't his fashion sense. It was his refusal to take the money. Imagine building a company from a literal scrap heap in Oregon into a 70-country empire, only to have giant conglomerates like PepsiCo or General Mills come knocking with checkbooks open. Most founders would have signed the papers and retired to a private island by Tuesday. Bob? He basically told them to get lost. He didn't want the cash. He wanted his people to own the "mill."
The Day Everything Changed for the Employees
In 2010, on his 81st birthday, Bob Moore didn't ask for a cake. Instead, he handed over a huge chunk of his company to his workers. This wasn't a PR stunt. It was the start of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). By 2020, the company was 100% employee-owned.
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Think about that.
When Bob passed away in February 2024 at the age of 94, he didn't leave his empire to a group of suits in a boardroom. He left it to the 700+ people who actually mill the flour and pack the bags. It’s a move that feels almost alien in the modern business world. People often think ESOPs are just "socialist" experiments, but for Bob Moore Red Mill, it was a calculated bet on human dignity.
"I realized I had a great opportunity for generosity," Bob once said, citing the Golden Rule as his primary business manual.
It worked. Turnover at the Milwaukie, Oregon, headquarters is famously low. When you own the place, you tend to care if the flour is ground right.
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Why Stone Milling Isn't Just for Hipsters
If you walk into the plant today, you’ll hear a low, rhythmic rumble. Those are the stones. While most modern flour companies use high-speed metal rollers that heat up the grain and strip away the nutrients, Bob Moore Red Mill still uses massive, century-old volcanic millstones.
Why bother? It’s slower. It’s louder. It’s harder to maintain.
But metal rollers are like a surgical strike; they peel away the bran and the germ, leaving you with just the starchy endosperm. Stone milling is different. It grinds the whole thing together. You keep the oils. You keep the fiber. You keep the stuff that actually makes food taste like food.
Bob’s obsession with this "old world" method started after he read a book called John Goffe’s Mill in the 1960s. He became obsessed with the archaeology of milling. He hunted down abandoned stones from old mills in Indiana and Tennessee like they were buried treasure.
A Quick Breakdown of What’s in the Bag:
- The Bran: The hard outer shell (fiber).
- The Germ: The "yolk" of the grain (nutrients/fats).
- The Endosperm: The white starchy part (energy).
Most big-box flours only give you the third one. Bob wanted you to have all three. He called it "To Your Good Health," and he meant it literally. His own father had died of a heart attack at 49, and that trauma fueled his fifty-year crusade to get people to eat more whole grains.
The Arson Attack That Almost Ended It All
Success wasn't a straight line. In 1988, an arsonist torched the original mill. Everything went up in smoke. The machines, the grain, the building—gone.
Most 60-year-olds would have taken the insurance money and called it a day. Bob didn't. He and his wife Charlee spent the next year rebuilding from the ashes. They pivoted. They found a new facility. They started experimenting with something that, at the time, was a tiny niche: gluten-free products.
They were decades ahead of the curve. Long before "Gluten-Free" was a buzzword on every restaurant menu, Bob Moore Red Mill was building a dedicated, separate facility to ensure there was zero cross-contamination. That foresight is why they’re still the gold standard for Celiac-safe baking today.
Beyond the Bag: What the Brand Does Now
As of 2026, the company has expanded far beyond just bags of flour. You’ve probably noticed the "Moregetherness" campaign or their new protein-packed overnight oats. They’ve even been named one of the most innovative companies of 2025.
But the core hasn't changed. They still source locally when they can. They still fund massive research centers at Oregon State University and OHSU to study how whole grains fight chronic disease.
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It’s a weirdly personal business for a global brand.
Actionable Steps for the Home Baker
If you're looking to actually use these products rather than just read about the business model, here's how to do it right. Don't treat stone-ground flour like the bleached white stuff from a paper bag.
- Store it cold. Because stone-ground flour contains the germ (the oils), it can go rancid if you leave it in a hot pantry for six months. Stick your bags in the freezer.
- Hydrate your dough. Whole grain flour absorbs more water than refined flour. If your bread feels like a brick, you probably didn't add enough liquid. Give it time to "soak" before you start kneading.
- Watch the labels. Look for the "Sourced Non-GMO" and "Certified Organic" seals. Bob was a stickler for transparency before it was a marketing requirement.
- Experiment with the "weird" stuff. Don't just buy the All-Purpose. Try the Teff. Try the Sorghum. Try the Buckwheat. These grains have flavors that modern industrial farming almost wiped out.
The legacy of Bob Moore Red Mill isn't just about food; it's about the idea that you can be successful without being "corporate." You can treat your employees like owners and still dominate the market. Bob proved that kindness isn't a liability in business—it’s a competitive advantage.
Next time you see that red vest on the shelf, remember the guy who built an empire, gave it away, and spent his lunch breaks playing the piano for his staff.
Key Takeaways for Business Owners
- The ESOP Model: Giving employees a stake creates a culture of "owners," not just "workers." It drives productivity and loyalty that money can't buy.
- Authenticity is a Moat: In a world of fake influencers, Bob’s real-life commitment to his values made the brand unshakeable.
- Vertical Integration: By owning the milling process instead of just co-packing, the company maintains total control over quality and margins.
Get Started with Whole Grains: If you're new to this, start by replacing 25% of the white flour in your favorite cookie or pancake recipe with Bob’s stone-ground Whole Wheat or Oat Flour. You’ll notice the nutty flavor immediately, and you won't lose the texture you're used to. It’s the easiest way to bridge the gap between "healthy" and "actually delicious."