World Grain - June 2021 - 48

SOSLAND PUBLISHING
years
both food safe and functional flour products.
In terms of grain storage improvements, Peter
Marriott, sales manager for Satake Europe, a milling
equipment manufacturer, foresees going beyond today's
ability to monitor ambient conditions during storage.
" In the next step, imagine if storage silos will be
able to fully adapt themselves to the changing ambient
conditions, with receiving real-time weather information
from the internet, " he said. " This example can
be extended to other processes in order to explain how
we achieve optimization and food safety with technology
implementation. "
Specialty milling
The current trend toward increased specialty milling
will continue to gain momentum, Anderson predicted,
as he sees a shift away from almost exclusively milling
traditional " white fluffy flour. "
" I see the industry shifting toward organics, which
Bühler's Mill
E3 stands for
advantages on
three efficiency
levels: space,
time and energy.
In the optimal
case, a Mill
E3 building can
be 30% smaller
in volume than
a traditional
mill of the
same size.
has become a larger segment for us, as well as a shift
to milling ancient grains, legumes and other alternative
proteins, " Anderson said. " As flour millers we can be
too wrapped around a kernel of wheat. Wheat will always
be a core and fundamental aspect of our industry.
However, we have to continue to look at other products
that are nutritious and provide a good alternative protein.
At the end of the day, it's about what consumers
want and we need to explore how we can partner with
customers to supply those. "
Anderson said Ardent Mills was positioned to be a
provider of plant-based protein solutions through dry
milling of various pulses and legumes.
" We've learned during the last several years that there
are a lot of similar technologies in play, and it requires
a lot of the same expertise that we already have with
wheat milling, " he said. " We feel very good about our
capabilities and our ability to serve those demands. "
Milling equipment manufacturers agreed that the
mill of the future would likely be smaller.
" We definitely expect to see more compact milling
systems in the future, " Marriott said. " With an efficient
plant design, combined functions of machines, and
simplified processes, we will develop smaller plants
with optimal usage of the area, and a lower energy consumption
advantage as well. "
Galli said he envisioned mills being shorter in height
than many of today's 6- or 7-story buildings thanks to
alternative plant engineering concepts, the type that
Ocrim began working on more than 50 years ago. He
noted that some of these concepts are " already applied
today, that make it possible to eliminate at least two
floors in comparison to a traditional mill. "
While the square footage is likely to decline, production
capacities at individual plants will continue to increase as
it becomes harder for smaller flour mills to compete.
" There's certain fixed costs, whether it's a 5,000- or
10,000-cwt mill, that are always going to be there, "
Jansen said. " So, the economics of it are going to continue
to drive larger milling units and/or larger mills
with multiple milling units within them just to capture
those efficiencies of scale. "
Anderson also sees a future with fewer but largercapacity
flour mills.
" It's hard to spend the millions of dollars needed to
continually upgrade a 5,000-cwt mill versus the economy
of scale you get with the bigger mills, " he said.
" That's the fundamental shift we keep seeing. Whether
it's within a given company or with mergers, I do think
that's probably a trend that's going to continue. "
We want to hear from you - Send comments and inquiries
to worldgrain@sosland.com. For reprints of WG articles,
email reprints@sosland.com.
48
June 2021 / World Grain / World-Grain.com
Photo courtesy of Buhler
http://www.World-Grain.com
World Grain - June 2021

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