Miller Magazine Issue:114 June 2019

69 INTERVIEW JUNE 2019 Taking the rapidly rising world population into con- sideration, what do you foresee about this alterna- tive source of protein? Do you have any relevant studies or plans addressing this matter? This is an interesting topic and one that has many differing views. There have been many reports recently with eager predictions of a “second nutrition transiti- on”, on how the world needs to reduce its dependency on meat based protein and turn to alternative sources of protein such as pulses and beans. The rationale be- hind many of these reports is environmentally linked to the demands on the Earth from producing livestock and grains. We at GoodMills obviously follow these reports and listen to consumer demand, and as such our subsidiary in Germany, Mullers Muhle, with its quality branded rice and pulses production, is well positioned to meet the changing dietary requirements. However, returning to the original question, if we take the EU situation, it is forecasted that “meat-ea- ting” will only see a tiny decline, from 69.3kg per per- son to 68.7kg between 2018 and 2030. It is also worth remembering that whilst GoodMills is a “wheat miller” from our 2.9mmt milling capacity we produce approx 600tmt of grain by-product, such as wheat bran, that is used extensively in the animal feed industry. So ultimately whilst we monitor the situation with great interest, we will largely remain consumer-led, but feel well positioned no matter what direction the con- sumer trends You have mills in seven countries and distribute your products in a large area. It needs integrated wheat buying, flour milling, and marketing. It needs a solid supply chain. How do you manage this? As many an expert has concluded, a companies best asset is its employee’s, and this is no different at GoodMills. We employee people with a strong un- derstanding of the milling industry, from master mil- lers to quality managers, to grain purchasers through to the sales and marketing teams. Each one of them brings many years of experience, but also with the energy and drive to keep up with our ever-changing market. We have over the years worked hard to standar- dize our internal processes to have as an efficient supply chain as possible, and to this extent, the company has recently started on a major investment to install a unified ERP system across all our locati- ons to further support this integrated supply chain. CONSOLIDATION TO TAKE PLACE WITHIN EUROPEAN MILLING INDUSTRY The number of flour milling plants has been dec- lining in Europe. What are the reasons for this dec- line? What are your future expectations for your industry? There are many factors that have contributed to the declining number of flour milling plants, of which stag- nant European demand, declining margins and lack of efficiency are the main drivers.