Merger Creates A Flour Power

Watchdog groups fear the massive flour milling company will depress prices for farmers:

The merger of ConAgra Foods with Horizon Milling LLC — a joint operation between Cargill and CHS Inc. — would create a milling behemoth called Ardent Mills. If allowed, the proposed headquarters in Denver, Colorado would become the nation’s largest flour power, controlling a third of the U.S. milling capacity and doubling the size of its next largest competitor.
In an apparent effort to ease the worries of regulators, the two companies agreed to divest four mills scattered around the US earlier this month. But the American Antitrust Institute (AAI) and Food & Water Watch, which opposed the merger upon its announcement last March, remain unconvinced. In press release, the two institutions said the concession on the part of the companies, “just puts lipstick on a pig.”
Spokesmen for each of the three companies involved in the merger declined a request for interview due to the pending case before the Department of Justice, but submitted written statements countering that farmers and consumers would actually benefit from a larger, more efficient milling operation.
“With the formation of Ardent Mills, we’ll be creating a more dynamic milling company that will be able to bring innovative flour and grain products, services and solutions into the marketplace,” said Becky Niiya, the Senior Director, Communication & External Relations at ConAgra Foods.
But the AAI and Food & Water Watch just aren’t so sure those new innovative flour and grain products would come at a fair cost to farmers or consumers. In their letter, they claim Ardent’s huge footprint would likely mean farmers getting paid less for wheat, bakers paying more for flour and consumers footing the bill at the grocery store.

That is a major merger.  1/3 of naional milling capacity?  Wow.