Grain & Milling Annual - 2024 - 99

milling industry profile
Flour milling at the New Braunfels site dates back to
shortly after Texas gained statehood in 1845. The first
mill was built in 1848, according to " Flour Milling in
America, " and burned down in 1860. Mills subsequently
built were destroyed by tornado and then by flood.
The current mill was built in 1887 by a group including
Hippolyt Dittlinger, who in 1901 assumed full ownership
of the mill. The business was known as H. Dittlinger
Roller Mills Co. for many years.
* Mark Fowler, vice president of global technical
services for US Wheat Associates (USW), died suddenly
at his home on Feb. 20 at the age of 52.
" Mark's passing is a great personal and professional
loss for our organization and the wheat farmers we
serve, " said Vince Peterson, president of USW. " Mark
embraced his work and our mission with enthusiasm.
As a result, our technical experts are better equipped
and motivated partners for our many customers across
the world. Our most sincere sympathy goes out to
Mark's family and to the wheat community he loved. "
Fowler grew up on his family's farm near Emporia,
KS. He received a bachelor's degree in milling science
and management from Kansas State University (KSU),
and later returned to complete a master's degree in
agricultural economics.
His career began as a flour miller first for Cargill
and then Seaboard Corp. In those roles, Fowler ran
flour mills, worked on projects in several developing
countries, including Ecuador, Guyana and Haiti, and
worked as a technical director of the Africa Division
within Seaboard's Overseas Group in Durban, South
Africa. Later, he spent 12 years at KSU as a milling
specialist and associate director at the IGP Institute,
in the university's Department of Grain Science and
Industry.
As a highly respected flour milling expert, Fowler
also served as a technical milling consultant for USW,
as well as the Northern Crops Institute, allowing him
to become well acquainted with many USW staff and
overseas customers.
Before joining USW, originally as vice president
of overseas operations, he was president and chief
executive officer of Farmer Direct Foods, Inc., a farmerowned,
flour milling company in New Cambria, KS.
* Bob's Red Mill introduced its latest specialty pizza
and pasta flour. The " 00 " Flour (or " Double Zero Flour " )
is for restaurant-quality Neapolitan-style pizza and
pasta made at home. Interest in cooking pizza at home
has grown in the last few years, and consumer interest
in " 00 " Flour has grown by more than 174% since 2020,
according to Bob's Red Mill.
The " 00 " Flour is used to make dough for both thin
and crispy pizza crust with bubbly edges and a smooth
pasta that's easy to chew. The flour's high gluten
content makes for highly elastic dough that doesn't
require much kneading and is still tender enough that
it won't become tough or rubbery when it's being
stretched or rolled, according to the company
MARCH 2023
* Keith Adams was promoted to executive vice
president of core wheat milling at Bay State Milling Co.
Adams continues managing the core milling business
operations while taking on new responsibilities to
strengthen the company's skills and knowledge, supply
chains, and its relationships with supplier partners.
Adams will oversee the transportation and logistics
for US operations to ensure reliable supply chains and
customer satisfaction. In addition, he will manage the
procurement department.
Adams has been with Bay State Milling for 15 years,
most recently as director of manufacturing. He also has
served as director of operations strategy and director
of engineering. He got his start as a plant manager in
Wichita, KS, in December 2007.
* Ardent Mills is gifting $3.5 million to Kansas State
University's Ag Innovation Initiative, which is the
university's name for its ag infrastructure upgrades,
including grain science and industry teaching and
research components. The funds will be paid out over
the next five years to support KSU's Grain Science
and Industry Department's growth, research and
development capabilities through 2026.
As part of its gift, Ardent Mills said it will collaborate
with KSU's College of Agriculture leadership to
establish baseline metrics and goals associated with
total student enrollment, recruitment and retention of
diverse students. The company also plans to work to
create leadership development opportunities within the
university's milling and baking science programs.
* Star of the West Milling Co. plans to build a new flour
mill at the site of its Ligonier, IN, flour mill while also
adding pathogen mitigated flour production capacity at
the facility. The project would increase the company's
overall daily flour milling capacity by 45%.
The Ligonier flour mill currently has daily capacity
to mill 8,000 cwts of soft flour. Star of the West will
add 15,000 cwts of additional soft wheat flour and
5,000 cwts of pathogen mitigated flour daily production
capacity. The new mill, to be built adjacent to its existing
flour mill, will feature one 10,000-cwt flour milling unit,
a 5,000-cwt flour milling unit and a 5,000-cwt unit
completely dedicated to production of the pathogenmitigated
flour.
As part of the project, Star of the West will build
a seven-story slipform structure where the mill will
be installed. The project also includes additional feed
storage and loadout capacity, flour storage, two twin
packaging lines, and tote-filling capabilities. Completion
is expected in September 2025.
With the expansion, Star of the West said it will add
to its Ligonier team a full-time wheat specialist who will
work directly with local growers to maximize both yield
and quality of their wheat crop.
Star of the West has owned the Ligonier flour mill
since 1987. Established 144 years ago as the Ligonier
Milling Co., the flour mill operated for most of its history
as Lyon & Greenleaf Co., the business acquired in 1987.
* Bay State Milling unveiled its new Wingold Wellness
multipurpose flour. Bay State claims the flour is a
healthy and cost-effective substitute to refined wheat
flour and offers three times the fiber without losing the
quality. Made from Bay State's HealthSense high-fiber
wheat flour, Wingold Wellness flour is said to offer
prebiotic fiber benefits to consumers who prioritize
digestive health over everything else. The company said
95% of Americans are not consuming enough fiber on a
daily basis and that the Wingold Wellness flour can help.
* Miller Milling announced on March 29 that it is
planning another major expansion at its Saginaw, TX,
facility that will increase the plant's daily capacity by
10,000 cwts. The increase will make the Saginaw flour
mill the third largest in the United States at 34,000 cwts
of daily flour production capacity, behind North Dakota
Mill in Grand Forks, ND (54,500 cwts) and Ardent Mills'
plant in Hastings, MN (35,260 cwts).
The Saginaw mill also underwent a capacity
expansion of 10,000 cwts, to 24,000 cwts, that was
completed in 2019. When the upcoming expansion is
complete, the Saginaw mill will be the largest in Texas,
ahead of Ardent Mills' facility in Saginaw, which has
daily production capacity of 27,500 cwts.
Slated to begin production in December 2024 or
early 2025, the expansion will include leading-edge
milling technology with a continued focus on food
safety, efficiency and waste reduction, the company
said.
The Saginaw mill, which was built in 1999 as a
partnership of Farmland Industries, Inc., Bay State
Milling Co., and an Oklahoma regional cooperative,
was sold to ConAgra Mills in 2003 before Miller Milling
purchased it in 2014.
APRIL 2023
* Jack Keltz, director of technology for Grain Craft,
whose career in the milling industry spans 45 years,
received the 2023 Milling Operative of the Year award
at the International Association of Operative Millers
(IAOM) Conference banquet April 20 in Minneapolis.
Established in 1986 by Milling & Baking News, the
award is given to the practicing milling operative who
has made the most significant contribution to the
progress of a plant, a company and the industry from an
operations perspective.
Keltz, who graduated with a milling science degree
from Kansas State University in 1978, has played a key
role in the design of many reflows and conversions
throughout his career and has " been invaluable to the
success and outcomes of those projects. "
Keltz led the technical operations at multiple flour
mill locations before assuming his post as corporate
technology director for Chattanooga, TN-based Grain
Craft in 2015. Keltz began his career in 1978 as head
miller for Cereal Food Processers' (CFP) plant in
Rosedale, KS. He later was head miller at the company's
Portland, OR, facility in 1983 and then transferred to
CFP's Salt Lake City, UT, mill in 1990, where he was
plant superintendent. In 1997, he took the same position
at the company's flour mill in Wichita, KS.
Keltz became CFP's regional milling superintendent
in 2010, a position he held for four years until CFP,
Milner Milling and Pendleton Flour Mills merged to form
Grain Craft.
Five other awards were handed out during the
banquet, which capped off the two-day conference and
expo. The Thaddeus B. Bownik Outstanding Service
award, which recognizes outstanding service to the
milling industry and to IAOM, was presented to Randy
Garvert, strategic account manager for Ardent Mills.
Also receiving awards were: Steve Humphreys, vice
president of sales for CETEC Cereal Technologies, Inc.,
who received the Allied Trades Technology award.
Enzo Galluzzo, a university milling instructor from
Bogota, Colombia, who received the Arlin B. Ward
Commendation for Excellence in Milling Education.
Tony Petersen, director of Integrated Pest
Management at Ardent Mills, who received the George
B. Wagner Memorial award, presented for contributions
to sanitation and food protection.
Ramsey Hundley, mill superintendent at ADM Milling
in Enid, OK, who received the Aspiring Miller award,
given to a miller under 30 years of age who has provided
exemplary service to the milling industry.
MAY 2023
* NIPPN Corp., which operates one of Japan's largest
flour milling businesses, announced on May 15 that it
is entering the US milling market for the first time with
a $25 million investment in Utah Flour Milling, LLC.
Established in February by Denver, CO-based PHM
Brands LLC, Utah Flour Milling will begin construction
of the mill this summer at a yet-to-be-announced
location, and it is expected to be completed in the fall of
2024, according to NIPPN, which also noted the plant's
daily flour production capacity will be 7,500 cwts.
NIPPN said the mill will feature leading-edge
technology, including patented pathogen-reduction
biotechnology from Energis Solutions, a subsidiary
of PHM Brands. NIPPN said it will be committed to
realizing its long-term vision of " business expansion
in North America and business development, including
inorganic growth strategy " through this investment,
enhancing the Group's overall strength as a flour miller
through direct engagement in the US flour milling
business.
NIPPN is one of the " big four " flour millers in Japan,
along with Nisshin, Showa Sangyo and Nitto Fuji, which
combine for over 75% of the country's flour milling
market share. In recent years, NIPPN consistently has
garnered between 23% and 24% of the flour milling
market share in Japan and it continues to upgrade its
seven flour mills.
* Bartlett, a Savage Company, completed a $28 million
expansion and upgrade at its grain milling facility
in Wilson's Mills, NC, adding a third milling unit and
significantly increased storage capacity for wheat, flour
and millfeed.
Bartlett, North Carolina's largest flour miller, began
the project in July 2021 and celebrated its completion
on May 2. The Wilson's Mills location now has three
GRAIN & MILLING ANNUAL 2024 | 99
Grain & Milling Annual - 2024

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