Latimer, Iowa (north central) | That mill has been a part of Mankato for a long time and sucks to see it close. New Prague had one as well. A big issue for any company operating that mill is the existing infrastructure can be difficult to modify to meet their new needs. The processing equipment is very specialized to create the exact product a CPG wants. The costs involved with replacing the worn out handling equipment, getting rid of obsolete buildings, in a tight location like that is difficult. Transportation logistics can also be a struggle.
In the mill project we are working on, I originally looked at modifying a few different existing facilities. By the time all costs were included the price wasn’t significantly different to building new with the most efficient processing. After touring food-grade mills in the U.S., Sweden, Finland, and Switzerland and conversations with the brands it became obvious that new, clean, and fresh was the path forward.
Older concrete silos have issues with flaking/stones as well.
Much like it’s usually better for a farmer or coop to start from scratch in the right location, rather then try and fix up an old site or build around an existing bin, a mill is the same way. Or remodeling old farm houses compared to just building new. Old mills are cool but you are still left with an old mill when done. |
Ardent Mills/Mankato
