ConAgra Foods says Ardent Mills grain-milling joint venture in Denver area will boost efficiency
ConAgra Foods, Omaha, Neb., says its newly proposed grain-milling joint venture would spur competition and innovation in the industry and would not itself bring about lower prices for wheat farmers. Paul Maass, ConAgra’s president of the commercial foods division, says the Ardent Mills venture—which is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice’s antitrust division and a number of wheat-producing states—would be able to better serve its flour customers and ultimately food consumers through new efficiencies.
“It will be a more efficient model that will help us be more competitive as we buy wheat, and also as you sell the flour,” Maass states.