World Grain - September 2013 - 44

FEATURE

Grainand
Milling
Management
S

everal years after launching a trial in which Chelsea
Milling Co. explored a move beyond its deep retail roots,
the company has embarked on a $35 million capital project, the largest expansion in its 83-year history.
In an interview with Milling & Baking News, sister publication of World Grain, Howard S. (Howdy) Holmes, president
and chief executive officer, said the project will include the
installation of several bulk ingredient silos, the construction
of small buildings, the upgrade of its flour transfer systems
and the addition of a new mixing department. The project is
aimed at giving Chelsea access to the food service and institutional markets.
At one level, Holmes said the project at Chelsea Milling
should be viewed in the context of what he called “a long
line of upgrades.” The Holmes family’s roots in milling date
back to the 1800s, but it was in 1930 when Holmes’ grandmother developed and launched the
first prepared Jiffy mix product that
has been a singular focus of Chelsea
for decades.
The Jiffy line includes brownie
mix, cake mixes, corn muffin mix,
pie crust mix, frosting mixes, multipurpose baking mixes and nine varieties of muffin mixes. While a
unique vehicle for sustaining a milling company, Holmes said it has
been apparent for some time that
growth prospects for the retail dry
mix business are scant.
“We are 83 years in the retail business, and about 20 years ago it was
clear the home baking market was
not going to be a growth sector,” he
Holmes
said. “We had to think about how we
44

by Josh sosland

Chelsea milling in major move into
institutional, food service markets
would sustain ourselves the next 100 years.” Strategic analysis undertaken during the 1990s suggested Chelsea should
broaden its focus into non-retail channels for its mix. Holmes
said effecting the change proved time consuming.
“Since we had been a focused manufacturer for so many
years dedicated to retail, our systems and mentality were focused,” Holmes said. “It took a number of years to plan out
how we were going to penetrate the institutional and food service sectors. The steps we are taking now are the implementation and execution of that plan.”
Customers embraCe Change
The $35 million capital project follows by several years an initial trial
effort launched with the November
2007 installation of a small heavily
manual line for 50-pound bags.
“It was an experiment,” Holmes
said. “We spent the next four to five
years becoming a player in the institutional market. In August, it was
replaced by an automated bag line.”
Even as Chelsea Milling tiptoed
from its retail niche toward the institutional sector, customers “have
not been tentative at all in their embrace of the company,” Holmes said.
Sales have grown quickly. While
September 2013 / World Grain / www.World-Grain.com

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World Grain - September 2013

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