Like most people in lockdown, Manildra Group director Caroline Honan spent plenty of time earlier this year baking.
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Ms Honan was in the kitchen with children Lachlan and Laila, baking "family favourites - chocolate chip biscuits and banana bread" - while at the same time catering to the needs of hundreds of thousands of people across the state doing the same thing.
An unprecedented hike in demand for flour which led to most supermarkets putting item limits on the product has driven the Manildra Group to its biggest year on record.
The group has made an additional 50 million kilograms of flour out this year, with most of that being produced in Manildra.
"We've been operating our flour mills around the clock to meet the substantial demand and since the coronavirus pandemic we have increased our retail flour production by more than 50 per cent," Ms Honan said.
"Additionally we have employed seven team members to assist with the increase in packing requirements."
She said since the family began the business in 1952, "we've never experienced such an unprecedented level of demand for flour" as during the height of coronavirus lockdown, which had meant good news for Manildra and farmers during an uncertain time.
"We have seen Australians take up baking and consequently, flour and other associated bakery supplies have also been in high demand," Ms Honan said.
"Following challenging years for growers and communities impacted by severe drought, we share high hopes with our customers and growers for a better grain season in 2020."
The expansion means the facility - already the country's largest flour mill - will have additional capacity for retail production of flour across both the region and the country.
"Not only are we providing plentiful flour for Australia as we have done every year, we are now raising the bar - providing an additional 50 million kilograms of locally made flour," Ms Honan said.
"This recent expansion is to do everything we can to ensure flour is available at local supermarkets."
Locals buy in bulk
Joe Bernardi was taking a risk when he purchased 12.5kg bags of flour to get something on shelves stripped of baking goods earlier this year - but there's not one of those bags left.
As Manildra Group reveals it has milled an additional 50 million kilograms of flour so far this year, Mr Bernardi said he sourced their bulk bags when COVID-19 lockdown panic-buying struck the central west.
"Across our four stores we moved 22 pallets or a full semi-trailer of flour," he said.
"It all went within a couple of weeks."
Whether we've suddenly become a nation of bakers or whether it's still sitting in pantry cupboards, he doesn't know.
But shoppers were happy to snap up the big bags of flour when the normal sized bags weren't available.
"It would have been at least double or triple the amount of flour we would have sold (under normal circumstances)," he said.
There was also a week when the Forbes store quadrupled its bread production to keep up with demand.
Bernardi's also had other foods, including frozen veggies, in bulk as well.
Bernardi spent his days holed up in his office on the phone seeking out supplies, particularly where catering and food service outlets had been shut down.
"It was a unique situation where there was a shortage of retail supply, but an immediate over-supply of food service items," he explained.
A few months down the track, he can reflect that it was a hectic time but he's still proud of the way his team handled the rapidly changing situation.