Matthews Cotswold Flour Avis 

Since my first purchase of Cotswold flour the results of my baking is the talk of the family.

The best flour for baking authentic French baguettes! We always found that when in France, the bread didn’t cause IBS and bloating. We decided this was the only bread to eat. We were thrilled to find your French T55 flour and make our own!! Thank you!

Excellent, too quality flour with generous amount of grains, it makes beautiful tasty bread.

Whilst many of my friends experiment with a variety of interesting recipes, my pursuit is for the most simple, local and wholesome bread. The organic wholemeal stoneground Spelt and the organic wholemeal stoneground wheat flour produce the most satisfying loaves and have become a staple for me.
On balance, I’m inclined towards the spelt flour for producing a really finely formed texture. I found the spelt takes slightly less hydration than the wheat recipe on the wheat packet at 352ml per 500gms of flour instead of 355ml.
It makes beautiful wholesome bread.

Always but their strong white and Wholemeal to bake our bread, worth every penny

First: the flour. I guess my speed reading let me down as I didn’t realise the flour was mixed with a 10% whole malted grain. So that was a surprise. It’s a much lighter flour than a non malted variety & my wife loves it, so do I but I would say not an every day bread but that is down to personal taste. My sour dough starter worked well with this malted flour & it rose well & a lighter airy texture than a dark rye. As I’m gluten intolerant I should mention this flour gave me no problems. It’s why I started baking in the first place.

Would I byt it again yes I would. I gave it four out of five because delivery was very slow. In a world of next day delivery this is definitely an area that needs addressing. Packaging is good & minimum order fair.

Normally, I don't go out of my way to leave negative reviews, but this situation has truly frustrated me. On November 5th, I bought three bags of my preferred Matthews Strong multigrain 8 grain flour from Tesco. Upon opening one, it seemed off, yet I decided to bake a loaf. When sliced, I found it lacked grains and resembled white bread. The remaining two bags were identical.I reached out to Cotswold flour via a cordial email, including photos and the production date, highlighting the problem and suggesting they inspect other bags to prevent further customer dissatisfaction. With 35 years in retail, I recognize errors can occur. However, after a day without a response, I called them. They claimed to have replied by email (they hadn’t) and promised to resend it (they didn’t). Additionally, they assured me they would forward my details for verification, but since it was Friday, they indicated I wouldn’t receive a response until Tuesday, the 9th. Disappointingly, I never heard back.Returning to Tesco on Friday the 14th, I noticed bags with identical date and time stamps still for sale. I pointed out the issue, and upon checking, they found those bags were also seedless. Today is Monday the 17th, and yet, I’ve received no explanation from Cotswold about the production hiccup. I feel completely overlooked!After reading several reviews by dissatisfied Trustpilot customers, it seems their lack of response is typical unless grievances are publicly aired. Haven’t they learned? While this isn’t a huge financial issue or life-threatening, I attempted to help by bringing it to their attention. Customer service should extinguish dissatisfaction, not inflame it! Meanwhile, I'm stuck with three bags of incorrect flour without any clarification. This is why I'm exceptionally upset.I anticipate finally receiving a reply, but it's too late to mend the disappointment caused by their response thus far. Despite this, I’ll likely continue

The French grade flour is great. Produces light and fluffy crumb in a breadmaker
Shame courier played silly buggers pretending to deliver broken package whilst doing nothing.

Just used their strong white to make my first bread machine loaf. The resulting bread is fabulous!

Love their flour and the service you get is top notch highly recommended

I ordered a consignment of Mathew Cotswold Strong White bread flour. No fault of Mathew Cotswold the order went missing with the courier. Mathew Cotswold contacted me and sent out another consignment for next day delivery. Excellent customer service.

I love the variety of flours and details provided with each type, not to mention all the recipes and the help from customer services to adapt them if need be. Love the humble wholemeal flour and the sumptuous Eight Grain one - will probably place an order just for that!

Easy to order and quick delivery. The flours I bought make such delicious bread

My two bread-making groups are deep into their sourdough journeys, and it’s been a joy watching their skills grow. One of the biggest lessons they’ve learned is just how much good flour matters — the flavour, the texture, the whole experience changes when you start with quality ingredients.

If you’re thinking about baking your own bread, consider this your sign: order some flour from Matthews Cotswold Mill and experience the difference for yourself. It might just be the start of your own bread-making adventure.

(NOTE: - I have not been paid or incentivised to write this review)

Quality product, I have seen a real improvement in my sourdough loaves using this flour. I will be reordering.

Brilliant flour for baking bread. Every loaf turns out delicious, packed with nutrients. Better than supermarket.

I’ve been making bread for many years now, especially sourdough. I have tried many different bread flours with varying degrees of success. However I learned to make sourdough with my brother who now lives on Vancouver Island. So decided to search for Canadian flour. It was so easy to find on the Matthews Cotswold website. Finally my bread tastes as good as it did at my brothers. So easy to order and in the amounts that suit my bread making. 🙏🏻

It's rare that I would bother to waste my time posting a negative review, but this has made me so angry. I purchased 3 bags of my favourite flour of Matthews Strong multigrain 8 grain from Tesco on the 5th of November. Having opened one, it did not look right but I baked a loaf anyway. Once I cut into it, I realised there were no grains and it was basically white bread. The other two were also the same.

I sent a very nice email to Cotswold flour, with pictures and the date stamp of production explaining the issue and suggested they could have lots of other bags lacking any seeds, and so prevent other customers from being disappointed. After 35 years in a retail environment, I know things can go wrong. After a day with no reply, I rang them. I was told they had replied by email (they hadn't) but would resend it (they didn't). I was also told they would pass on the details to be checked, but as it was Friday I would not receive an answer until Tuesday the following week the 9th. I was disappointed that no reply was ever received.

I returned to Tesco on Friday the 14th and found bags still on the shelf with the same date and time mark on the bags. I explained the issue and they opened them to find they too had no seeds in the flour.
Today is Monday the 17th and still nothing from Cotswold to explain why there was a problem in production.
I have been, totally forgotten!!

Having now read many reviews posted by unhappy customers on Trustpilot, it looks like this is quite normal for them to not reply to issues, and only do so after your grievance is posted for all to read.
Do you not learn?
I know it's not a lot of money or life threatening, but I had tried to help by drawing your attention to the issue. Customer services are supposed to put out the fire of discontent, Not Fuel It!.
In the meantime I'm still left with 3 bags of the wrong flour and no explanation. This is why I am so very annoyed.

I feel sure I will now get a reply, but it's too late to undo the disappointment of your companies response to date.
I am still likely to continue to use 8 grain, as the family and I do love the taste, but the above issue could have been avoided.
Regards
John

I’ve been trying to make sourdough bread for years with no success until…….
I came across Elaine Boddy’s Utube videos. She recommended MCF for her recipes, I ordered it, I tried it, and as they say the rest is history.
I am now making sourdough bread regularly. Would highly recommend MCF to anyone who is interested in making sourdough bread. Definitely 5 star flour.