Bill Tine, VP of Marketing, King Arthur Flour

Send us Fan MailOver the last few months, have you found yourself asking "what is a Sourdough starter," "why did my cookies crumble," or "what can I bake with these ingredients in my pantry"? Well, good news – you are not alone. As quarantine regulations hit the United States, King Arthur Flour noticed business was far from its usual pre-Easter pace. In the span on a few short days as shoppers hit grocery stores and stocked up on essentials, suddenly shelves were without flour. The team found itself receiving and answering more questions on baking than ever before – which is significant, considering the brand’s 200+ year history. But why the sudden surge in baking? As individuals started spending more time at home with activities canceled, working, or learning from home, and the limited ability to eat out, the interest in baking suddenly skyrocketed. King Arthur understood it needed to quickly pivot on multiple levels. First, how could the brand add resources and innovate to meet the increased demand for retail-sized bags of flour? And second, how could its internal team of experts, including in-house bakers, shift to provide additional live support, educational resources, and tips and techniques as many first-time bakers took to their home kitchens? Loyalty360 recently had the chance to sit down with Bill Tine, VP of Marketing for King Arthur Flour, to dive into the brand’s history, its customer engagement efforts, and how the brand was able to successfully pivot to answer customer questions and meet the unprecedented spike in demand.