Ardent Mills expanding, adding packers, increasing retail presence

Ardent Mills, the flour and ingredient company, announced significant updates and investments to its retail capabilities. These investments allow Ardent Mills to increase and streamline retail flour packaging capabilities, and continue to operate at an exceptional rate to safely serve retail demand, wherever it is needed.

“I’m proud of our team’s dedication to their customers, consumers, and communities; and our ability to make strategic investment decisions to ensure that their needs are met,” said Troy Anderson, vice president of operations at Ardent Mills in a press release. “Ardent Mills is focused on our customers’ success, while remaining extremely intentional around the safety of our people and products — these investments are no exception.”

The areas of investment include:

• Expansion in Northeast U.S. To meet customer’s needs on the east coast and nationwide, Ardent Mills added a retail packer to the company’s existing operations in Mt. Pocono, PA, fully operational July 1, 2020. The Mt. Pocono Mill produces small pack options such as 2, 5 and 10-pound bags.
• Dedicated Retail Team. To continue to build trust and deliver on the company’s commitment, Ardent Mills created a dedicated retail team to better execute for customers. This year, the team added warehouses for several of the company’s retail mills across North America to ensure supply continuity and timeliness of shipments. In addition, Ardent Mills added another retail line at its Newton, KS facility.
• Additional Packer & Updates. Consumer behaviours are changing and there is more demand for flour to bake at home. To meet these needs, Ardent Mills ordered three retail packers, one new line that will be implemented and fully functional by September 2020, and two retail packers that will upgrade existing lines by early 2021. The new state of the art lines will further increase the company’s production capabilities.

“These significant investments will position us well and provide the necessary flexibility to serve our customers and consumers,” said Angie Goldberg, chief growth officer at Ardent Mills in a statement. “We’re excited about how quickly we’ve been able to execute on our growth strategy and look forward to continuing this work.”

In addition to investing in long-term retail capabilities, Ardent Mills’ customer-focused strategy allowed the company to quickly adjust operations and creatively solve for short-term retail needs to ensure flour availability during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In every decision, the company uses its values of trust, serving, simplicity and safety to make a positive impact on customers, communities and Ardent Mills team members.