Ardent Mills recently completed construction of a new flour mill at Port Redwing near Tampa, Florida, US.
Ardent Mills’ new flour mill is unique in that it brings in wheat via ocean vessels and shuttle trains.
Virtually all flour milled at Port Redwing is shipped by truck to a customer located within a two-hour drive of the mill (a small quantity goes to Miami, Florida, US).
The A mill features 7 double-high and 18 single-high Arrius integrated grinding systems supplied by Bühler.
Stainless steel spouting is among the sanitary features in the new mill.
The A mill features six eight-section sifters and the B mill includes two eight-section sifters and 1 four-section sifter, all supplied by Bühler.
A worker moves a pallet stacked with 50-pound bags of flour in the warehouse section of the mill.
The mill features online instrumentation for real-time analysis in all phases of the operation.
Besides being the newest flour mill in the United States, the Ardent Mills flour mill built along the Gulf coast in metropolitan Tampa, Florida, US, has several details that set it apart. Advanced analytics, state-of-the-art equipment, unusually large grain storage capacity and unique supply chain capabilities are among the mill’s distinguishing features.
At 17,500 cwts of daily flour milling capacity, the Port Redwing mill is not Ardent Mills’ largest and is not among the 25 largest flour mills in the United States. With the capacity to receive large quantities of wheat, though, Ardent Mills constructed a large grain elevator at the Port Redwing mill, with 4.1 million bushels of storage capacity. The elevator may be the largest ever built concurrent with the construction of a US flour mill and, according to the 2022 Grain & Milling Annual published by Sosland Publishing Co., it is the sixth largest elevator of any US flour mill currently operating. The concrete elevator includes 12, 50-foot-concrete bins with 300,000 bushels of grain storage apiece as well as a number of smaller grain bins.
The flour mill replaces one operated in Tampa by Ardent Mills and before that Conagra Brands, Inc. (a partner in Ardent Mills with Cargill and CHS, Inc.) for 50 years. The new mill is situated about 15 miles from the old one, to the south along Tampa Bay. Located within the city limits of Gibsonton, Port Redwing is part of a 134-acre peninsula. Ardent Mills leased a 10-acre tract for its facilities.
In 2022-23, the International Grains Council’s July report anticipates worldwide wheat production to reach 770 million tonnes, down from 781 million tonnes in 2021-22, with 195 million tonnes available for trade.
Most wheat production comes from a handful of countries and even fewer are major exporters, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. Here’s a look at the top 10 wheat-producing countries worldwide, based on total yield in tonnes from 2000-2020 with 2022-23 production and consumption projections.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, US — Representatives of the grain and milling industries recently gathered July 10-13 at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois, US, for IFT FIRST, the Institute of Food Technologists annual event and expo.