Milling & Baking News - September 13, 2016 - 10

Business X

Mennel Milling and Plaza
Belmont acquire Renwood Mills
FOSTORIA, OHIO - The Mennel
Milling Co. and Plaza Belmont Fund
III on Aug. 26 announced they have
acquired Renwood Mills, L.L.C. from
Renovo Capital and Renwood Opportunities Fund I. Financial terms of the
transaction were not disclosed.
Headquartered in Newton, N.C.,
Renwood Mills is an 80-year-old flour
milling and mix company. The company was founded in 1935 by G.D.
Drum, who acquired what was then
known as the Maiden Flour Mill.
Drum operated several mills before
building a new facility in Newton in
1961. Known as Midstate Mills for
many years, the company was put up
for auction in 2013 after what was attributed to the company's "default in
the payment of indebtedness."
Renwood Opportunities provided
capital to reduce debt, increase working capital and fund growth as it expanded existing product lines and
pursued new business partners.
Renamed Renwood Mills, the

Mount Olive, Ill., and Dowagiac,
Mich. The company produces a full
range of hard, soft and spring wheat
flours with total wheat flour capacity
company now operates a 7,500-cwt of 40,900 cwts. Additionally, Mennel
flour mill and 12-ton corn mill that Milling operates 10 country grain elsupply the company's packing facility. evator locations handling wheat, corn,
Renwood Mills produces the Southern soybeans and popcorn, and two transBiscuit and TendaBake brands of flour portation companies. The company
has total mill grain storage
and mix, as well as a variety
capacity of 7,333,000 bus.
of private label retail prodPlaza Belmont Manageucts, food service and cusment Group, founded in
tom food service mixes, and
1998, is a private equity
wholesale bulk flour.
MILLING COMPANY
group that specializes in
Mennel Milling is the seventh largest flour milling company in the acquisition and development of
the United States. Established in 1886, middle market food manufacturing
Mennel has been among the more ac- and related businesses. The company
tive milling companies in recent years is led by two former flour milling exboth in terms of acquisitions and new ecutives, John T. Stout Jr. and Robert
mill construction. Most recently, the J. Parnow, and an executive from the
company in July announced plans finance industry, John S. Dalton.
"Mennel and Plaza are excited to
to acquire from General Mills, Inc. a
bakery mix plant in Martel, Ohio, 50 work with Tommy Lynn, c.e.o., and
miles southeast of the company's Fos- the rest of the management team of
toria mill and 10 miles south of Men- Renwood Mills to build on the strong
nel's mill in Bucyrus, Ohio. Both the foundation and fine tradition of proBucyrus mill and the one in Roanoke, ducing the highest quality products
Va., were built in the last 15 years. and providing outstanding customer
The company also operates mills in service," Mennel said. MBN

the
Mennel

Clif Bar opens new $90 million
energy bar baking plant in Idaho

10 / September 13, 2016 XMilling & Baking News

nation that I know of - to incorporate
biophilic features from the outset," said
Bill Browning, a founding partner of Terrapin Bright Green design consultants
in New York. "We've seen biophilia designed into offices, hospitals and schools

JOSHUA ROPER

EMERYVILLE, CALIF. - Clif Bar &
Co. on Aug. 30 opened its $90 million,
300,000-square-foot bakery in Twin Falls,
Idaho. Billed by the company as a "oneof-a-kind, sustainability-focused facility," the new bakery features a biophilic
design, which Clif Bar said is an
approach to design that connects
people in buildings with nature.
The new bakery's design elements include more than 200
windows, vaulted skylights,
light-directing solatubes, indoor
walls of recycled barnwood and
natural stone, indoor plants and
sliding doors that connect an auditorium to an outdoor events
space. A packaging area without
exterior windows offers wallprojected images of the natural outdoors that rotate daily.
Outside, Clif Bar built patios for
outdoor breaks and planted droughttolerant, native plants, including more
than 570 trees and 5,700 shrubs and grasses. The company said it plans to eventually add a biking/footpath and organic
community garden.
"This is the first bakery - and manufacturing facility of any kind in the

Twin Falls bakery embodied our company values," said Kevin Cleary, chief executive officer of Clif Bar. "We wanted it to
be a healthy, welcoming place for people
to work - a workplace that sustains our
people, the community and the planet."
In addition to biophilic aspects, Clif
Bar said it designed the Twin Falls bakery with overall sustainability in mind
and is pursuing LEED certification for
the building from the U.S. Green
Building Council. LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the most widely
used green building rating system
in the world.
The bakery's green building design elements include hybrid cooling towers that contribute to the
bakery using about a third less water than most conventional bakeries, the company said. On-demand
conveyors, LED lighting, a reflective roof and a water source heat pump
help the bakery use about 20% less energy
than most conventional bakeries, Clif Bar
noted. Efficient refrigeration equipment
and processes trim approximately 40%
off typical bakery refrigerant emissions.
In addition, 100% of the electricity required to power the bakery is generated
from green, renewable energy through
the purchase of Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) from an Idaho wind farm. MBN

in the United States, but never as an upfront design strategy in this sector. I hope
Clif Bar's unique bakery signals a new
era in design for the well-being of people
in all types of built environments."
This is Clif Bar's first owned and operated bakery. The facility makes organiccertified Clif Bar energy bars and Clif Kid
ZBars, an organic whole grain snack bar
for children. It employs 214 people.
"It was really important to us that our

bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

http://www.bakingbusiness.com http://www.world-grain.com

Milling & Baking News - September 13, 2016

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