Tag: Grains & Milling

Bühler pursues highest quality flour production with launch of new data-driven milling technology

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SWITZERLAND – Swiss technology group Bühler has unveiled its most recent innovation yet: a high-tech data-driven mill with the potential to produce the highest quality flour possible. Dubbed Mill E3, the new technologically advanced mill was unveiled at Whitworth Bros. Ltd’s Whitley Bridge plant in Yorkshire, the UK. At the heart of the Mill E3 lies more than 15,000 data points collecting information on all aspects of the production process. According to Bühler, the volume of data being analyzed, along with the cutting-edge application of blockchain technology, will enable the…

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UK introduces mandatory folic acid fortification for wheat flour to help prevent birth defects

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UK – UK government has announced that Folic acid (Vitamin B9) is to be added to UK wheat flour to help prevent spinal birth defects in babies.   Folate helps the body make healthy red blood cells and is naturally occurring in certain foods, such as leafy green vegetables.    Research shows that not getting enough folate (Vitamin B9) within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy can lead to neural tube defects and result in spinal conditions such as spina bifida or anencephaly.  Spina bifida (abnormal development of the spine) and anencephaly, a…

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Austrian food company Agrana invests US$29m in expanding starch production capacity

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AUSTRIA – International food ingredients supplier Agrana has announced a €25 million (about US$29m) investment in additional capacity at its three starch factories in Austria.   According to a statement from the company, €12 million will be used in expanding capacity at the Agrana plant in Gmünd which is Austria’s only potato starch factory.  The investment involves building a spraying tower – a drying plant for infant formula, maltodextrin, and dried glucose syrup – in addition to installing a drum-drying plant for dehydrated potato products.  Expansion works in Gmünd are estimated to…

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Alapala to set up second feed mill in Sudan featuring state-of-the-art automation systems

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SUDAN – Turkey’s premier milling equipment company Alapala, is set to build a turnkey greenfield feed mill project in Khartoum, Sudan. This will be the company’s 7th reference project in the country and second feed mill in the Eastern African nation. The planned feed mill will have a processing capacity of 10 tonnes per hour (TPH), comprising of a sorghum intake and storage unit, sorghum flake unit, cake grinding unit, silage handling unit, mixing unit, and storage unit. According to Alapala, it will import its raw material and produce white…

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Swiss milling technology supplier Swisca wins IAOM Best of Show Award for unique dampening system

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USA – Swiss milling and technology start-up Swisca has won the coveted and prestigious Best of Show Award at the IAOM (International Association of Operative Millers) international milling trade fair in the United States.   Swisca emerged victorious for its unique dampening system that uses nozzles to spray the grain with fog of water at the very beginning of the processing chain in the mill.  Dampening is an important production process in a flour mill as the moisture it imparts to the grain ensures uniform grinding and high yield.   Industry experts acknowledge that…

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Tomato Jos forays into grain sector, receives US$1.2m support from USAID funded Trade Hub

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NIGERIA – Tomato Jos, Nigerian agro-processing company focused on the local production and processing of tomatoes has diversified its operations venturing into the grains sector. Under the new move, the private equity-backed, fast-growing social enterprise is seeking to boost the productivity, incomes, and resilience of maize and soybean smallholder farmers in northern Nigeria’s Kaduna State. The company has received a N494 million (US$1.2 million) co-investment grant from the USAID-funded West Africa Trade & Investment Hub (Trade Hub) to facilitate the venture. According to Trade Hub, Kaduna State is home to…

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Global food prices rise sharply in August as FAO cuts estimates for world cereal production

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GLOBAL – After easing in the previous two months, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) food price index rose 3.1% in August to near a peak set in May reviving concerns about inflationary pressures.  According to the FAO, the rising prices were driven by reduced grain production expectations, frosts that hurt sugar-cane crops in top grower Brazil, and tightening oilseed supplies.  Food supply chains have also been affected by a shortage of workers amid the coronavirus pandemic and higher shipping costs.  Lower harvest expectations in several major exporting countries shunting up world wheat prices by 8.8%…

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Unga Group taps into expertise of Premier Foods’ CEO Joseph Choge to be its new MD

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KENYA – Unga Group Limited, a major grain miller in Kenya, has announced the retirement of its long serving Managing Director Nicholas Hutchinson, effective December 31 2021. The holding company with investments in flour milling and manufacturing of human nutrition products and animal feeds, has tapped into Premier Foods’ CEO Joseph Malel Choge, to take over from Mr Hutchinson from December 1. The Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed company said in a notice that Hutchinson would continue in an advisory capacity for a while to ensure a smooth transition, reports Business Daily.…

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ADM flour milling network in US achieves net-zero emissions, paving way for carbon-neutral flour

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USA – ADM has achieved net carbon neutral status at its US mills, making it the first company of such kind and scale in the milling sector to achieve such a milestone.  ADM which has 22 mills around the US that process wheat, sorghum and corn into flour says that the net-zero emission status now paves way for the company to start producing carbon-neutral flour.  To achieve the enviable status, ADM employed a number of strategies including a combination of energy efficiencies and the purchase of renewable energy certificates.   ADM also…

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Olam empowers female wheat farmers with irrigation equipment as border closers revive Nigeria’s idle milling plants

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NIGERIA – Female wheat farmers in Nigeria’s Kano state are set to boost their production after receiving irrigation equipment from Crown Flour Mill (CFM) Limited, a subsidiary of Olam Nigeria Limited.  The irrigation equipment comprising mainly of high-pressure water pumping machines was formally presented to the female farmers at a ceremony held in Giyamusu, Ajingi Local Government Area of Kano State.  According to the flour milling company, the irrigation equipment is meant to assist the female smallholder wheat farmers and ultimately enhance their productivity levels.  In a statement, CFM stated that…

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