Milling & Baking News - September 15, 2015 - 40

Grain and Milling Management X

is still a lot to do. We think there is real upside in this market."
Mr. Stoufer said ancient grains remain an area of innovation
and excitement for Ardent Mills.
"People are looking for texture and taste," he said. "They
want something more than white flour or a whole grain wheat
flour. Customers are looking for ways to attract the consumer
with a 'wow' effect. You can do that with ancient grains. We
have the capabilities."
While proud of its vast network of flour mills and its specialty ingredients, the Ardent Mills executives said what truly
sets the company apart is its ability to assist customers looking
for help with product innovation. Mr. Dye said the company has
a unique array of resources that offer bakers and other flour
users meaningful benefits as they look for ways to develop new
products.
"The combination of traditional white flour with whole grain
flour along with specialty products can really help the customer
create a dynamic offering," he said. "And then using tools like
the mobile innovation center and some other tools around innovation really has been a highlight the first year as well. The

sales team has been able to leverage these tools to go out and
say, 'Here is what Ardent Mills can do for you.' Or, 'How can we
serve you?' - really work together in partnership. Listening
to the customer and acting as a partner is something our sales
team does well. Ardent Mills has the resources our customers
are looking for. Our functional knowledge across many areas,
including risk management, operations, technical solutions' culinary and supply chain are being utilized by the customer to
deliver a better end-to-end experience."
Ardent Mills has promoted its Mobile Innovation Center (called
"the MIC") as "driving innovation to the customer." Housed in
a specially designed tractor trailer that features a kitchen/lab/
culinary center, meeting space and other resources, the MIC has
been driven to trade shows and directly to customers.
"The Mobile Innovation Center is unique and is a great example of thinking about the business differently," Mr. Dye said.
"It gives customers at their doorstep or at a show a tangible,
hands-on experience in doing innovation together. We have a
chef who does a great job of tying in different culinary themes.
We first introduced it in New Orleans where we were making
po' boys and different New Orleans-themed specialties. We use
it to do unique things so you can, say, taste a sprouted wheat

40 / September 15, 2015 XMilling & Baking News

bagel. Or you can taste a product made from organic flour, or
an Ultragrain product that is different. You are doing that innovation together right there."
The MIC and the specialty ingredients represent steps in
the sequence between exploration or "ideation" and the ultimate introduction of a new product, Mr. Dye said. The company's Innovative Bakery Resources (IBR) facility near Portland,
Ore., and ultimately the Ardent Mills Innovation Center under
construction in Denver will be key elements as well.
"Being able to work with the customer in that way is something that differentiates us as Ardent Mills," he said. "From the
MIC we can do follow up with our Innovative Bakery Resources,
a bakery itself where we do test runs or bake the bread. Having
a bakery as Ardent Mills is pretty unique. Between the Mobile
Innovation Center and the bakery you can bring practical innovations to life. I think that helps build that partnership and
helps us do more for that customer and helps us tell the story
of the great products we have and how those really look, taste
and feel."
From a practical perspective, Mr. Stoufer said the resources
help customers save
perhaps the most pre'Customers are
cious commodity of
looking for ways
all - time.
He said, "Flip the
to attract the
innovation
process
consumer with a
on its head and ask,
"wow" effect.'
'Why does it take
months and months
- Bill Stoufer. chief
and months to innooperating officer,
vate? Let's blow that
Ardent Mills, L.L.C.
paradigm up. Let's
take innovation to the
customer. Let's take
the customer to Denver when we get done
with Ardent Mills Innovation Center here.
Let's bring it to life
in limited quantities
with IBR so we can
do market testing. We
can do that in weeks if not days, instead of months or years.
When you think about consumer tastes shifting so fast, you
can't take a year to get to market. How do we help our customers change the paradigm to let's go from idea to market in a
matter of weeks?
"We're in a unique positon to be able to do that with the
unique capabilities. We're committed to that type of speed.
Yeah, we're big, but we need to be nimble."
In December, these Ardent Mills' customer solutions resources will expand further with the opening of a culinary center at
the company's Denver headquarters. Mr. Dye said the MIC, IBR
and the Ardent Mills Innovation Center all will complement one
another.
"So you can take an idea that comes from the customer at
the MIC, do more testing at the headquarters' innovation center here in Denver and then run test batches in the bakery near
Portland, as Bill said, literally in weeks," Mr. Dye said.
"It will offer a full kitchen culinary experience," Mr. Stoufer
said of the Ardent Mills Innovation Center to be completed
later this year. "You'll see wheat come in, do a full battery of
testing and create great products at the end. It will complement the MIC and the customer." MBN

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Milling & Baking News - September 15, 2015

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