Dive Brief:
- ConAgra says its plan to create a flour-milling collosus will be delayed until early next year as regulators continue to investigate the proposed joint venture.
- That merger -- known as Ardent Mills -- would combine ConAgra's milling operations with those of Horizon Milling. Horizon is a joint venture of Cargill and CHS. CHS is a Fortune 100 company formed by the merger of numerous grower co-operatives.
- If regulators approve the deal, Ardent Mills would dwarf the rest of the flour business -- controlling 34 percent of the market.
Dive Insight:
There's something that feels positively strange about the idea of a massive, consolidated flour mill industry. We don't want to sound too romantic, but it's sort of in our DNA as Americans to think of flour mills as cherished institutions from a simpler time. Sure, other similar businesses have been merged and morphed beyond recognition. The most obvious example is the family farm, which is rapidly becoming part of our mythology rather than our reality. Sawmills are another. Does anyone still use the power of a river to cut timber? Perhaps...but no doubt that industry is dominated by some global conglomerate that uses lasers.
If the Department of Justice does approve Ardent Mills, there's an argument to be made that both farmers and consumers will be hurt. And no doubt a little bit of America's self image will perish. As for us, maybe we'll restore a mill.