Soil to Shelf: How Our Idaho Farm Grows and Mills the Grain for Our Pasta
Our einkorn pasta is soil to shelf: the einkorn is grown and stone-milled by Grand Teton Ancient Grains in Teton, Idaho, and then made into bronze-cut, slow-dried pasta in our Salt Lake City kitchen. The same family, brothers Jade and Jaxon Koyle, runs both companies, so one family is responsible for the grain from the field to the finished bag.
We love telling this story, because it’s the reason Intermountain Pasta exists the way it does today. It’s also a big part of why retailers and brands choose us. When you know where your grain was grown and who milled it, you can tell your customers something real. You can read more on our einkorn page and our brands page.
Where our story starts: the farm
Jade and Jaxon Koyle run Grand Teton Ancient Grains, their family farm and mill in Teton, Idaho, at the foothills of the Grand Teton Mountains. The Koyles are sixth-generation farmers, and they grow organic einkorn, one of the oldest cultivated wheats, using proven organic and biological farming methods.
Einkorn isn’t an easy grain to grow. It yields less than modern wheat, and most farms don’t bother with it. The Koyles grow it because they believe in it: its golden color, its rich, nutty flavor and its long history. If you’re new to the grain, our einkorn buyer’s guide covers the basics.
Why a farm family bought a pasta kitchen
The Koyles wanted to offer einkorn pasta to their customers, so they bought a Salt Lake City pasta kitchen that had been making artisan pasta since 1992. When they did, they kept what made it great: its time-tested recipes and its dedicated team.
So that’s what we do now. We’re carrying on the kitchen’s tradition of making artisan pasta, and we’ve added organic einkorn pasta made from grain grown and milled by our own family. We also want to keep growing this kitchen, welcoming new customers and new manufacturing opportunities. You can meet us on our about us page.
From soil to shelf, step by step
1. Growing
The einkorn is grown on the family farm in Teton, Idaho, using proven organic and biological farming methods.
2. Harvesting
The grain is harvested at the farm.
3. Milling
The einkorn is stone-milled at the family mill into einkorn semolina. Because the farm and mill are run by the same family, the grain doesn’t pass through a long chain of brokers.
4. Mixing
The einkorn semolina travels to our Salt Lake City pasta kitchen, where it’s mixed into dough. We keep ingredients clean and always use real food. Our einkorn pasta comes plain, so the grain’s natural flavor and golden color can shine.
5. Bronze-cutting
The dough is pressed through bronze dies, which give the pasta a rough, porous surface that holds sauce. We make our einkorn pasta in spaghetti, fusilli, linguine and angel hair. Read more about the dies in our post on bronze-cut pasta.
6. Slow drying
The fresh pasta goes into our dry rooms, where it dries slowly, at the right temperature and rate. Long pasta hangs in the dry room, and short cuts dry on wooden screens. This protects the flavor and color of the grain.
Our minimum is between 700 and 1,200 lbs, depending on the cut and how much it takes to fill a dry room. Filling the whole room is how the pasta dries evenly and gets the flavor and texture you love in artisan pasta.
7. Packing
Finished pasta is packed in our bags. For private label, you pick the pasta, we fill our bags, your brand goes on the tag. We send you the dieline, or we can provide a designer. For custom manufacturing, we can use your packaging.
8. Your shelf
From there, it ships to you. Most orders ship in 4 to 6 weeks.
Why soil-to-shelf matters to retailers and brands
Traceability
When a buyer asks “where does this come from?”, you have a clear answer: a family farm and mill in Teton, Idaho, and a pasta kitchen in Salt Lake City.
A story shoppers remember
People love knowing the farm behind their food. A soil-to-shelf story gives your shelf tags, website and staff something real to share.
Quality from the start
Good pasta starts with good grain. When the people growing the grain also make the pasta, they care about every step.
Organic you can trace
Our einkorn pasta is organic, and we’re a certified organic handler. We’re also GMP certified and Scroll K kosher certified. Ask us for current certificates any time.
Bring the farm story to your shelf
There are a few ways to carry our einkorn pasta:
- Wholesale: our finished einkorn pasta is sold wholesale through Grand Teton Ancient Grains.
- Private label: our organic einkorn pasta, in our bags with your brand on the tag.
- Custom manufacturing: your recipe or packaging, made with our einkorn in our kitchen.
See all our einkorn options on our einkorn page.
Come talk to real people
We’re a family, a farm and a pasta kitchen, and we’d love to hear from you. Request a quote, email sales@intermountainpasta.com, or call 801-977-9077. Call anytime and talk to a real person.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Where is Intermountain Pasta’s einkorn grown?
Our einkorn is grown and stone-milled by Grand Teton Ancient Grains in Teton, Idaho, at the foothills of the Grand Teton Mountains.
Where is Intermountain Pasta made?
Our pasta is made in our pasta kitchen in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Who owns Intermountain Pasta?
Brothers Jade and Jaxon Koyle, sixth-generation farmers who also run Grand Teton Ancient Grains, own Intermountain Pasta.
What does soil to shelf mean?
It means one family oversees the grain from the field, through milling and pasta making, to the finished bag on your shelf.
More answers in our Buyer FAQ.