Importing finished flour
The upside: on a particular swing of the market, a lower purchase price. The downsides: a long supply leg, shelf life spent in transit, a batch that arrives whole with no way to swap it quickly, and any question about the figures taking weeks to resolve.
Milling inside the country
The grain is still largely imported — Georgia's self-sufficiency in wheat is around 19% (Geostat, 2025). But the flour is milled here, which means a fresh mill date, a short leg to the customer, the option to replace a batch within a day, and a live contact with production.
Where this shows up in money
- A smaller safety stock — less working capital frozen.
- Fast batch replacement — fewer failures in production.
- Clear documents and specification — fewer disputes and write-offs.
The takeaway for a buyer
Compare not the price per bag but the total cost of ownership: price plus stock plus risk. And insist on an honest distinction between «milled in Georgia» and «grown in Georgia» — they are different things, and a conscientious supplier states the origin of the grain in the specification.