Ardent Mills, the premier flour-milling and ingredient company, today announced two strategic appointments to help drive its commitment to innovation, sustainability, and leadership in the food industry. The company has named Shrene White as vice president of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and grower relations; and Kurt Long as vice president of emerging nutrition.

"ESG is a strategic business imperative that creates value for our customers, society at large and enables us to differentiate ourselves as an organization,” says Angie Goldberg, Ardent Mills chief growth officer. “At the same time, our focus on emerging nutrition will enable us to stay at the forefront of innovation and meet the changing needs of our customers and their consumers. It’s an exciting time for Ardent Mills as we look forward to nourishing what’s next."  

As VP of ESG and grower relations, White will oversee environmental sustainability, responsible product sourcing, social responsibility, grower relations, and overall ESG governance within the organization.    

“Our customers need partners who can deliver comprehensive solutions that fulfill their commitments to consumers, society and the environment,” says White. “Over the last decade of working at Ardent Mills, we’ve made great strides towards implementing best in class programs for our partners, customers and growers. By further investing in our ESG efforts with stakeholders’ needs in-mind, we can create greater shared value and drive positive change across our industry.”  

White has over 33 years of industry experience and has been a valuable member of Ardent Mills since its inception in 2014. She has played a key role in advancing the company’s ESG initiatives, deepening grower relationships and driving its regenerative agriculture program forward.  

Ardent Mills also announced the appointment of Kurt Long as vice president of emerging nutrition, the company’s alternative grains center of expertise. In this role, Long will lead and execute the company’s long-term alternative grains strategy.  

“Ardent Mills has a reputation for excellence across the flour-milling and ingredient industry. It’s been exciting to watch them innovate across new ingredients to expand the way we think about this sector of agribusiness,” says Long.  “Ardent Mills’ strong foundation provides a great runway to deliver integrated solutions that meet consumers’ evolving needs and strengthen the business – I'm excited for the opportunity to harness the potential of emerging nutrition to enhance new offerings, drive customer growth and improve efficiencies.”   

Long joins Ardent Mills from Benson Hill where he led strategy and business development. Previously, he spent over 12 years at ADM in many roles, including leading their global specialty ingredient systems business.  

According to the company, the investment in two key areas highlights Ardent Mills' forward-thinking approach as the company embarks on its next decade, following its 10-year anniversary this spring. The appointments of White and Long come on the heels of recent leadership and investment announcements, including the expansion of its Commerce City mill, and appointments of Sheryl Wallace as CEO and Tiago Darocha as chief operations officer.  

Related: Ardent Mills names Sheryl Wallace its new CEO