Gitnux/Report 2026

Wheat Milling Industry Statistics

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Wheat Milling Industry Statistics
How this report is researched
01Editorial Scope

Before any source is gathered, an editor locks the question, what qualifies, and how the piece will be judged.

02Source Research

Search agents collect the source set and pull each data point out with its provenance attached.

Read our full methodology →

Search agents attach provenance to every extracted figure.

Next review: within 39 days

01 Industry overview

The wheat milling industry at a glance

The global wheat flour market was valued at $186.83 billion in 2025, while industrial milling remains concentrated in major producing and consuming regions and exposed to volatile grain, energy and logistics costs.

$186.83B[83]
Global market size, 2025
4.22%[83]
Forecast CAGR, 2026–2034
418.59M cwt[84]
U.S. flour production, 2025
93.5%[85]
Saudi top-four consumption share, 2023
Market size
The global wheat flour market was estimated at $186.83 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $194.38 billion in 2026. The market includes flour produced for household, bakery, foodservice and industrial applications.[83]
Forecast & CAGR
The global wheat flour market is forecast to reach $273.98 billion by 2034, implying a 4.22% CAGR from 2026 to 2034. The forecast is supported by continued demand for bread, bakery products and other wheat-based staples.[83]
Market share & regions
Asia-Pacific accounted for 50.7% of the broader global wheat market in 2023, according to Grand View Research. On the supply side, 2024 wheat production was led by China at 140.1 million tonnes, followed by Russia at 82.6 million tonnes and the United States at 53.7 million tonnes.[86][87]
Segmentation
U.S. milling output is divided into wheat excluding durum, durum wheat and whole-wheat flour. In 2025, U.S. production included 387.182 million hundredweight of flour from wheat excluding durum, 31.408 million hundredweight from durum wheat and 17.941 million hundredweight of whole-wheat flour.[84]
Key players & concentration
The Saudi wheat-milling market is highly concentrated: four former state-owned milling companies accounted for 93.5% of total wheat consumption in 2023. The same prospectus reported market shares of 19.7% for Modern Mills and 21.7% for Fourth Milling Company.[85]
Pricing
In the United States, one pound of all-purpose white flour averaged $0.565 at retail in 2024, while the farm value of the wheat component was $0.105 per pound. The farm share was 18.5%, reflecting the importance of milling, packaging, transport and retail costs in the final price.[88]
Trends, drivers & challenges
Demand is supported by staple-food consumption and bakery applications, while millers face weather, geopolitical and logistics risks. USDA reported U.S. flour production of 418.590 million hundredweight in 2025, down from 425.179 million hundredweight in 2024, and wheat ground for flour fell from 915.728 million bushels to 907.207 million bushels.[84][83]
Consumer behavior & competition
Competition spans mass-market refined flour, whole-wheat and specialty products, with industrial bakeries, food manufacturers, foodservice operators and households representing distinct demand channels. In the United Kingdom, sourdough sales rose 56% year on year in an early-2025 dataset, indicating continued interest in artisan and differentiated flour applications.[89][83]
M&A
M&A activity continued in the United States. Mennel Milling announced the acquisition of Mondelez International’s Toledo Flour Mill on October 31, 2025; the facility was described as capable of producing up to 40,000 hundredweight, or 4 million pounds, of soft-wheat flour per day. In August 2026, Grain Craft acquired Central Milling, a Utah-based organic-flour supplier operating three mills.[90][91]
Regulation
Wheat-flour fortification is a major regulatory requirement in many markets. The Food Fortification Initiative reported in August 2026 that 85 countries mandated fortification of wheat flour alone or in combination with other grains, including 61 countries with wheat-flour-only legislation; WHO recommends iron and folic-acid fortification where industrially produced flour is regularly consumed.[92][93]
Latest news
The most recent industry developments identified were the opening of Greenfield Milling’s $100 million flour mill in Richmond, Utah, and Grain Craft’s acquisition of Central Milling, both announced in August 2026. The new mill is designed to supply flour directly to the adjacent Campbell Snacks facility, while the acquisition expands Grain Craft’s organic and traceable-flour activities.[91]

02 Ranking

Top 10 Companies in the Wheat Milling Industry

The leading companies in the wheat milling industry, ranked on market impact, performance, momentum, innovation and brand popularity.

Updated November 10, 2026 · Next review December 10, 2026

Verdict

Cargill leads Gitnux's 2026 wheat milling ranking with an Overall score of 9.6, with 6.5% revenue growth signal, and joint ownership of Ardent Mills. Ardent Mills is the runner-up at 9.1, with more than 40 locations specializing in flour and grain ingredients.

Ranked by Overall score · How we score ↓

Editor's top 3 picks

Where to start, by need.

  1. #1 Overall · Leader in flour milling

    Cargill

    US

    Ranked #1 · 9.6 · Flour milling

    Why we picked it: It ties global grain processing to flour milling through Ardent Mills ownership and shows 6.5% revenue growth.

  2. #2 overall

    Ardent Mills

    US

    Ranked #2 · 9.1 · Flour milling

    Why we picked it: Its North American footprint covers flour and grain ingredients across more than 40 specialized locations.

  3. #3 overall

    Grain Craft

    US

    Ranked #3 · 8.9 · Flour milling

    Why we picked it: It scales independent U.S. wheat flour and ingredients production across 21 milling locations.

Pick 1 is the #1 company overall. No other segment places in the top 5, so picks 2 and 3 follow rank.

Full ranking

Sort by
Top 10 companies in the wheat milling industry, 2026 – Gitnux ranking
#CompanyOverall ↓Company snapshot
1

Cargill

Flour milling · US

9.6
2

Ardent Mills

Flour milling · US

9.1
3

Grain Craft

Flour milling · US

8.9
4

GoodMills Group

Flour milling · AT

8.8
5

Modern Mills

Flour milling · SA

8.8
6

The Mennel Milling Company

U.S. wheat flour and bakery mix milling · US

8.6
7

Bay State Milling

Specialty and conventional wheat milling in North America · US

8.6
8

Interflour Group

Wheat flour milling in Southeast Asia · SG

8.5
9

Nisshin Seifun Group

Wheat flour milling in Japan and overseas · JP

8.5
10

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company

Global wheat flour milling and grain processing · US

8.2

How we score

  • Impact (30%): scale and weight in the market (revenue, market share, employees, market position).
  • Performance (20%): recent revenue growth and operating margin; an analyst assessment where a company does not publish them.
  • Momentum (20%): growth trajectory and future potential.
  • Innovation (15%): R&D intensity and how technologically advanced the company is.

Popularity (brand search demand, 15%) counts toward Overall but is not published as a column. Overall leaves out what is not known.

Scale Scores are shown on a 7–10 scale with one decimal; bars start at 7.0.

Cadence Recalculated when new figures are published; next review December 10, 2026.

Independence. Rankings are editorially independent. Scores, ranks, picks and the verdict follow the method above; no company can pay to change them.

Cite this ranking

APA

Samuel Norberg. (2026, November 10). Top 10 companies in the wheat milling industry. In Wheat Milling Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/wheat-milling-industry-statistics/#top-companies

report visual · Projection

Fourth Milling Company flour production volume (Saudi Arabia)

Fourth Milling Company flour production volume grew from 439 1,000 tonnes in 2021 to 712 1,000 tonnes in 2024.

439 1,000 tonnes
Start
+17.49%
CAGR · 3y
712 1,000 tonnes
Projected
20212024
source-verifiedir.mc4.com.sa2024

04 Statistics

Technology & Innovation

Inspection and classification advances are quantified in 2025 models, including 4% faster detection and 95%+ mAP@50 for non-wheat impurities.

AI in the wheat milling industry

  • 4% faster detection was achieved by YOLOv5n at 320×320-pixel resolution while retaining accuracy in a wheat-impurity study in 2025.[1]
  • More than 95% mAP@50 was achieved for several non-wheat impurities in a 2025 AI study targeting real-time inspection for flour mills.[1]
  • 85% was YOLOv5n’s mAP@50 for shrivelled wheat grains in a 2025 impurity-detection study relevant to flour mills.[1]
  • 88.6% was the global accuracy of a Mask R-CNN model identifying two wheat-flour types from starch-granule microscopy images in Spain in 2024.[2]
  • 0.9605 was the prediction correlation coefficient for sedimentation value from machine-learning NIR analysis of wheat flour in China in 2025.[3]
  • 17,000 labelled starch granules were used to train and evaluate an AI model for wheat-flour classification in Spain in 2024.[2]

Automation in the wheat milling industry

  • 3 to 4 bags per minute was the rated speed of an automatic packing machine for flour-mill plants in a published equipment specification.[4]
  • 1 to 2.3 tonnes per hour was the capacity range of impact detachers listed for automated flour-mill plants.[4]
  • 500 tonnes per day was the rated capacity of an automatically operated wheat-flour mill plant marketed by OLIS in Ukraine.[5]
  • 6,000 tonnes was the wheat-storage capacity of the automated Indian flour mill described by World Grain.[6]
  • 6 to 26 tonnes per hour was the capacity range of vibrating separators listed for automated flour-mill plants.[4]
  • 1,200 tonnes was the final-flour storage capacity of the automated Indian flour mill described by World Grain.[6]

Digital Transformation in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • Among EU food-manufacturing enterprises, 15.4% had high digital intensity in 2023, compared with 13.0% in 2021.[7]
  • Across the EU agri-food industrial ecosystem, 20% of companies had a concrete digital-transformation strategy in 2024.[7]
  • In the United States, 61% of farmers reported adopting digital agronomy technologies in 2024.[8]
  • Among EU food-manufacturing enterprises, 51.2% had very low digital intensity in 2023, down from 55.1% in 2021.[7]
  • Among EU food-manufacturing enterprises, 3.4% had very high digital intensity in 2023, compared with 2.1% in 2021.[7]

Technology Adoption in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across EU farms, 43% had internet access, 11% used farm-management information systems, and 7% used robotics in 2023.[9]
  • In Canada, 84% of field-crop operations used GPS equipment in 2021.[9]
  • In Czechia, 30% of crop-production farmers used at least one precision-agriculture technology in 2023.[9]
  • Across EU farms with utilised agricultural area, about 18% used some form of precision-farming technology or practice in 2023.[9]
  • In Germany, 85.5% of surveyed farms used at least one digital technology in 2024–2025.[9]
  • In Chile, 12% of agricultural production units reported using a technological tool such as mobile applications, drones, or sensors in 2021.[9]

Cloud Computing in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across EU businesses, 45% purchased cloud-computing services in 2023.[10]
  • Among EU large businesses, 78% purchased cloud-computing services in 2023, compared with 44% of SMEs.[10]
  • Across EU agri-food businesses, 37% used cloud computing in 2024, up from 26% in 2023.[7]
  • Across EU agri-food businesses, 26% used cloud computing in 2023.[7]

Big Data in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across EU agri-food businesses, 17% used big-data technologies in 2023.[7]
  • In Germany, 5.0% of surveyed farms used artificial-intelligence or big-data technologies in 2024–2025.[9]
  • Across EU agri-food businesses, 13% used big-data technologies in 2024, compared with 17% in 2023.[7]

05 Statistics

Data & Analytics

Data quality and governance gaps remain measurable: 42% of manufacturers verified operational data accuracy in 2025, while 69% relied on spreadsheets and email for core operations.

Business intelligence in the wheat milling industry

  • 88.31% was Mill B’s Flour 1 share in the production-split view of Bühler’s comparison dashboard.[11]
  • 63.02% was the average yield displayed for Mill B on Bühler’s grain-milling dashboard in January 2018.[11]
  • 2021 was the year Nisshin Flour Milling began building a company-wide real-time data platform connecting mills and corporate functions.[12]
  • 2.8% was Mill B’s bran share in the production-split view of Bühler’s comparison dashboard.[11]
  • July 2025 was when Nisshin Flour Milling began using Microsoft Fabric Real-Time Intelligence for mill data processing and visualization.[12]
  • 400 tonnes of flour per day is the production capacity reported for Molino Quaglia’s dashboard-enabled mill in Italy.[13]

Data analytics in the wheat milling industry

  • $29,000 per week was the single-plant saving reported from OptTek’s wheat-blending optimization solution.[14]
  • 0.98 was the R² value for moisture-content modeling in a commercial-scale wheat-flour milling optimization study.[15]
  • 0.96 was the R² value for protein-content modeling in a commercial-scale wheat-flour milling optimization study.[15]
  • 5% was the improvement in wheat-mix value achieved by OptTek’s optimization and digital-twin solution at a leading flour-milling operation.[14]
  • 99.9%–80% of samples achieved good or optimal prediction ability for most parameters in the industrial IIoT NIR milling implementation.[16]
  • 951–1,608 nanometres was the spectral range collected online by IIoT near-infrared sensors in an industrial common-wheat mill.[16]

Data Quality in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • 42% of manufacturers reported having a process to verify operational data accuracy or quality in 2025, indicating that most lacked a formal validation process.[17]
  • 41% of manufacturers said they distrusted the data used for supply-chain operations in 2025, reflecting persistent data-quality concerns in production and procurement.[18]
  • 49% of manufacturing respondents rated their operational data as having low AI readiness in 2024, meaning it was insufficiently labeled, contextualized, governed or accessible.[17]
  • 30% of manufacturing respondents identified poor-quality data as one of their top three challenges when working with AI-related data in 2024.[17]
  • 44% of manufacturers reported that AI projects had failed because of poor data quality in 2025, according to a survey of manufacturing organizations.[18]

Data Governance in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • 40% of food and beverage professionals worldwide identified disconnected systems and data as their biggest barrier to moving faster in 2026.[19]
  • 69% of food and beverage companies still relied on spreadsheets and email for core operations in 2025, limiting standardized access and control of business data.[19]
  • 6% of food and beverage leaders reported fully integrated digital systems in 2025, despite 82% saying technology adoption was a strategic priority.[19]
  • 15% of manufacturers said their data strategy was entirely aligned with their overall business strategy in 2024, while 31% said it was very closely aligned.[17]
  • 61% of supply-management organizations reported having a dedicated data-governance function in 2024, while 90% agreed that data governance was necessary.[20]
  • 61% of manufacturers reported having a corporate-wide governance plan, strategy or formal guidelines for how data is collected, organized, accessed and used in 2024.[17]

KPIs in the wheat milling industry

  • 1,485 million tons was Arabian Mills’ 2024 sales volume in Saudi Arabia.[21]
  • 1,067,000 tons was Arabian Mills’ 2024 wheat-production volume.[21]
  • 159,822 tons was Arabian Mills’ 2024 feed-production volume.[21]
  • 1,598,566 tons was Arabian Mills’ 2024 milled-wheat volume.[21]
  • 1.6 million tons was Arabian Mills’ 2024 annual wheat-milling capacity based on 300 working days.[21]
  • 98.27% was the flour-milling-operations rate reported by Modern Mills for 2025 in Saudi Arabia.[22]

06 Statistics

Strategy & Growth

Capacity and integration show up through concrete mill additions and feed-throughput targets, including 1.6 million tons annual wheat-milling capacity in Saudi Arabia for 2024.

Growth in the wheat milling industry

  • 13% was Arabian Mills’ revenue growth rate in 2024, Saudi Arabia.[21]
  • 1,485 million tons was Arabian Mills’ sales volume in 2024, an annual increase of 9.83%, Saudi Arabia.[21]
  • 7% was First Milling Company’s revenue growth in 2025, Saudi Arabia.[22]
  • 1.6 million tons was Arabian Mills’ annual wheat-milling capacity in 2024, up from 1.3 million tons in 2022, Saudi Arabia.[21]
  • 300 tons per day of additional crushing capacity was added through Forafric’s 2023 acquisition of SIMS in Marrakesh, Morocco.[23]
  • 101,260 hundredweight per day will be the combined capacity of Texas flour mills after the first phase of Westa’s new facility becomes operational.[24]

Differentiation in the wheat milling industry

  • 86% of surveyed bakeries regularly used organic whole-wheat bread flour in the Utah State University study.[25]
  • 70% of surveyed bakeries regularly used organic white bread flour in the Utah State University study.[25]
  • 8.5% is the protein specification for ADM’s Swan Pastry flour, United States.[26]
  • 8.0% is the protein specification for ADM’s premium layer-cake and pound-cake flour, United States.[26]
  • 49% of surveyed bakeries regularly used organic all-purpose flour in the Utah State University study.[25]
  • 150 tons per day is the capacity of Arabian Mills’ dedicated whole-wheat flour mill established in Riyadh in 2023, Saudi Arabia.[27]

Mergers and acquisitions in the wheat milling industry

  • €350 million was Mühle Rüningen’s turnover in 2023 before its intended acquisition by Dossche Mills.[28]
  • 1 million tons of grain per year is the approximate processing capacity of Mühle Rüningen’s headquarters facility cited in the 2025 transaction outlook.[29]
  • 600 employees will work across the combined Dossche Mills–Mühle Rüningen milling group after the 2024 acquisition.[28]
  • 90% of SIMS, a soft-wheat milling company in Marrakesh, was acquired by Forafric in 2023, Morocco.[23]
  • 5 German mills were included in Dossche Mills’ 2024 acquisition of Mühle Rüningen, Germany.[29]
  • 300 tons per day was the additional crushing capacity expected from Forafric’s acquisition of SIMS in Marrakesh in 2023.[23]

Strategic partnerships in the wheat milling industry

  • 16,800 acres were enrolled in Miller Milling and Ceres Global’s regenerative-agriculture program in 2025.[24]
  • 16,800 acres across 15 growers were enrolled in Miller Milling and Ceres Global’s regenerative-agriculture partnership in 2025, up from 4,500 acres across five growers in 2023.[24]
  • 30 years is the duration of Cimbria’s exclusive equipment-distribution partnership with Bratney in the United States and Argentina, serving grain and milling companies.[6]
  • 4,500 acres were enrolled in Miller Milling and Ceres Global’s regenerative-agriculture program in 2023.[24]
  • 5 growers participated in Miller Milling and Ceres Global’s regenerative-agriculture program when the collaboration began in 2023.[24]
  • 15 growers participated in Miller Milling and Ceres Global’s expanded regenerative-agriculture program in 2025.[24]

07 Statistics

People & Workforce

Workforce reporting shows turnover and age mix differences by site; Bahrain Flour Mills reported 6 new hires in 2024 and an 8.7% employee turnover rate.

Hiring in the wheat milling industry

  • 45 foreign nationals were part of Flour Mills of Nigeria’s workforce in 2022.[30]
  • 156 fixed-term or temporary workers were included in Flour Mills of Nigeria’s 2022 workforce.[30]
  • 66% of Bahrain Flour Mills’ 2024 new hires were aged 30–50.[31]
  • 6 new employees joined Bahrain Flour Mills in 2024.[31]
  • 13 new employees joined Liberty Flour Mills in 2025, according to its annual report workforce data.[27]

Employee retention in the wheat milling industry

  • 86% of Bahrain Flour Mills’ 2024 employee turnover involved male employees.[31]
  • 8.7% was Bahrain Flour Mills’ employee turnover rate in 2024.[31]
  • 43% of Bahrain Flour Mills’ 2024 employee turnover involved workers under age 30.[31]
  • 14% of Bahrain Flour Mills’ 2024 employee turnover involved female employees.[31]
  • 18% was Malayan Flour Mills’ full-time-staff voluntary turnover rate in 2023.[32]

Remote Work in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across U.S. agriculture and food employers, 35% offered some type of remote-work arrangement in 2024, according to AgCareers’ industry hiring report.[33]
  • Across U.S. agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, about 12% of workers worked remotely during October 2023–September 2024, including hybrid and fully remote work.[34]
  • Across U.S. crop and animal production, 14.4% of workers worked remotely in 2021, compared with 14.7% in 2019 and 15.4% in 2020.[35]
  • Across U.S. accommodation and food services, 4.8% of workers worked remotely in 2021, up from 1.9% in 2019 and 5.3% in 2020.[35]

Hybrid Work in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • 44% of Australian FMCG and agribusiness professionals preferred part-time remote work in 2024.[36]
  • Among science-of-food professionals surveyed globally in 2024, respondents averaged 2.1 work-at-home days per week.[37]
  • 21% of Australian FMCG and agribusiness professionals reported working fully remotely in 2024.[36]
  • Among science-of-food professionals surveyed in 2024, 36% reported having no work-at-home days per week.[37]
  • 84% of Australian agribusiness organisations planned no change to existing flexible or hybrid work arrangements in 2026.[38]

Upskilling in the wheat milling industry

  • 28.20 training hours per employee were reported for female employees by Liberty Flour Mills in 2025.[27]
  • 37 average training hours were provided to male employees at Bahrain Flour Mills in 2024.[31]
  • 36 average training hours per employee were provided by Bahrain Flour Mills in 2024.[31]
  • 32 average training hours were provided to female employees at Bahrain Flour Mills in 2024.[31]

Employee Engagement in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • Employees in manufacture, distribution and storage organizations scored 60.9% on enablement in People Insight’s global benchmark data.[39]
  • Manufacture, distribution and storage organizations recorded an average employee-engagement score of 72.9% in People Insight’s global benchmark data.[39]
  • Employees in manufacture, distribution and storage organizations scored 59.3% on leadership in People Insight’s global benchmark data.[39]
  • At Europe Snacks, a multinational food manufacturer, employee engagement reached 79% across its international workforce and 88% in its UK business after a structured listening program.[39]
  • In the agriculture industry, employees averaged 7.68 out of 10 for engagement and an eNPS of +5 in CultureMonkey’s 2026 benchmark.[40]

DEI in the wheat milling industry

  • 51 women were employed among SDN’s 358 existing feed-mill and oil-processing employees in Mali.[41]
  • 72.4% of Flour Mills of Nigeria’s senior-management team came from local communities in 2022.[30]

08 Statistics

Customer & Sales

Customer relationships are long and measurable: Modern Mills’ largest disclosed flour customer had a 41-year relationship ending June 30, 2023.

Customer experience in the wheat milling industry

  • 62% of surveyed flour-mill-equipment owners reported satisfaction with smooth functioning in a study of grain-processing businesses in India.[42]
  • 60% fewer customer complaints were reported after an Asian flour mill implemented a management control system, according to a case study published in 2023.[43]
  • 88% of surveyed flour-mill-equipment owners were satisfied with after-sales service in a study of grain-processing businesses in India.[42]
  • 93% of surveyed flour-mill-equipment owners were satisfied with their products in a study of grain-processing businesses in India.[42]
  • 72% of surveyed flour-mill-equipment owners reported satisfaction with equipment availability in a study of grain-processing businesses in India.[42]

Customer retention in the wheat milling industry

  • 41 years was the relationship length for Modern Mills’ largest disclosed flour customer in the period ended June 30, 2023, representing 6% of flour sales.[44]
  • 9 years was the relationship length for Modern Mills’ fourth-largest disclosed flour customer in the period ended June 30, 2023, representing 3% of flour sales.[44]
  • 9 years was the relationship length for Modern Mills’ sixth-largest disclosed flour customer in the period ended June 30, 2023, representing 3% of flour sales.[44]
  • 9 years was the relationship length for Modern Mills’ tenth-largest disclosed flour customer in the period ended June 30, 2023, representing 2% of flour sales.[44]
  • 41 years was the relationship length for Modern Mills’ third-largest disclosed flour customer in the period ended June 30, 2023, representing 4% of flour sales.[44]

Customer loyalty in the wheat milling industry

  • 57.2 customers was the industry mean for flour-milling firms participating in preferred-supplier programs in the United States in the study year.[45]
  • 43.9% of product volume was tied to close customer relationships among participating flour-milling firms in the United States in the study year.[45]
  • 20.7% of product volume was tied to close customer relationships among non-participating flour-milling firms in the United States in the study year.[45]
  • 35% of surveyed flour-milling firms did not participate in preferred-supplier programs in the United States, according to a study published in 1996.[45]
  • 7 customers was the industry mean for flour-milling firms not participating in preferred-supplier programs in the United States in the study year.[45]

Lead generation in the wheat milling industry

  • 88% of surveyed flour-mill-equipment owners identified newspaper advertising as an awareness source influencing flour-brand purchases in a study of grain-processing businesses in India.[42]
  • 60-plus qualified appointments were generated for a family-owned Ontario, Canada, milling business through an outbound digital lead-generation campaign.[46]
  • 5 out of 10 appointments became closed deals for a family-owned Ontario, Canada, milling business in a digital lead-generation campaign.[46]
  • 65% of surveyed flour-mill-equipment owners identified friends’ advice as an awareness source influencing flour-brand purchases in a study of grain-processing businesses in India.[42]
  • 97% of surveyed flour-mill-equipment owners identified television advertising as an awareness source influencing flour-brand purchases in a study of grain-processing businesses in India.[42]

09 Statistics

Marketing & Brand

Brand visibility data is available for influencer channels, including 11.5 million influencer posts and 42.7 billion engagements in 2023.

Marketing in the wheat milling industry

  • 19% of branded wheat flour consumption in India came from southern states in FY 2020.[47]
  • 47% of branded wheat flour consumption in India was concentrated in northern states in FY 2020.[47]
  • 13% of branded wheat flour consumption in India came from eastern states in FY 2020.[47]
  • 15% of Indian packaged wheat flour market value was held by pan-India brands in FY 2020.[47]
  • 21% of branded wheat flour consumption in India came from western states in FY 2020.[47]

Branding in the wheat milling industry

  • More than 500 regional and private-label brands competed in India’s branded wheat flour market in the period covered by the 2022 prospectus.[47]
  • 28% was Aashirvaad’s reported share of India’s packaged wheat flour segment in 2018.[48]
  • 40% was the approximate market share of Aashirvaad in India’s branded wheat flour category according to company and industry estimates.[47]
  • INR 4,000 crore was the reported value of the Aashirvaad wheat flour brand in India in 2018.[49]
  • 15% of India’s branded wheat flour market by value was held collectively by other pan-India players in FY 2020.[47]

Influencer Marketing in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • 11.5 million influencer posts covered food and drink globally in 2023, according to Sprout Social’s benchmark dataset.[50]
  • Food and drink influencer content generated 42.7 billion engagements globally in 2023.[50]
  • Food and drink influencer content generated 392 billion impressions globally in 2023.[50]
  • Food and drink influencer content involved 78,800 profiles globally in 2023, based on Sprout Social’s benchmark dataset.[50]
  • Food and drink influencer posts achieved a 1.19% average engagement rate globally in 2023.[50]

10 Statistics

Operations & Execution

Process and performance targets are stated with high fit metrics in industrial models, including 97.07% R² for predicting flour moisture in 2026.

Process optimization in the wheat milling industry

  • 97.07% was the coefficient of determination for predicting flour moisture in an industrial wheat-milling optimization model in 2026.[51]
  • 97.20% was the coefficient of determination for predicting ash index in an industrial wheat-milling optimization model in 2026.[51]
  • 0.49% was the target flour ash content for the Canadian Western Red Spring wheat laboratory mill check.[52]
  • 75.5% was the target flour yield for Canadian Western Red Spring wheat in a controlled laboratory milling procedure.[52]
  • 75–78 tonnes of flour were produced on average from every 100 tonnes of wheat milled in the UK.[53]

Operational efficiency in the wheat milling industry

  • 2.4 kg of waste was generated per tonne of grain milled by UK flour mills in 2023.[53]
  • 1,565.51 thousand tonnes was the 2025 production volume reported by a Saudi milling company, up 8.6% from 2024.[22]
  • 0.53 GJ of total energy was consumed per metric tonne of wheat discharged by Bahrain Flour Mills in 2024.[31]
  • 9.5% less energy per tonne of grain milled was used by UK mills after efficiency improvements over the previous 15 years.[53]
  • 3,525 metric tonnes per day was the 2025 daily flour-production capacity of the Saudi milling company reporting its annual results.[22]

Quality management in the wheat milling industry

  • 12.1% was the average grain protein content in the 2019 Colorado wheat milling evaluation.[54]
  • 0.03 percentage points was the permitted ash tolerance around the 0.49% target in the Canadian Western Red Spring laboratory milling check.[52]
  • 0.3 percentage points was the permitted moisture tolerance around the 14.5% target in the Canadian Western Red Spring laboratory milling check.[52]
  • More than 1.5 million quality and safety data points were generated annually by UK wheat testing at mills.[53]
  • 60.1 pounds per bushel was the average test weight in the 2019 Colorado wheat milling evaluation.[54]

Supply chain in the wheat milling industry

  • 600 direct customers were served by the Saudi wheat-milling company reporting its 2025 annual results.[22]
  • 22–25% of wheat input became by-products, mainly animal-feed material, in the UK milling supply chain.[53]
  • 185,000 metric tonnes was the silo storage capacity reported by a Saudi wheat-milling company for 2025.[22]
  • 3.8 million tonnes of flour were produced by the UK flour-milling industry in 2025.[53]
  • 80–85% of the wheat used by UK flour mills in a normal weather year was purchased from UK farmers.[53]

Outsourcing / Offshoring in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • 66% of Queensland food-processing businesses engaged in contract manufacturing to some extent in 2010, including contracting work in or out.[55]
  • 85% of Canadian food and beverage companies processed or manufactured products internally in 2020, while 13% both produced internally and outsourced production.[56]
  • 49% of U.S. growers surveyed outsourced at least some farm work to third-party service providers in 2022, with spraying services the most commonly outsourced activity.[57]
  • 19% of surveyed Queensland food-processing businesses contracted work out in 2010, while 28% contracted work in and 15% did both.[55]
  • About 12% of firms in the 11-country World Bank Firm-level Adoption of Technology sample outsourced at least one food-processing function, compared with about 18% in apparel.[58]

11 Statistics

Finance & Pricing

Pricing and margins are reported in specific Saudi miller datasets, including Milling Company 4’s 39% EBITDA margin in 2024.

Pricing strategy in the wheat milling industry

  • SAR 981 per ton was the average feed selling price in 2024 at Milling Company 4 in Saudi Arabia.[59]
  • SAR 610 per ton was the average flour selling price in 2023 at Milling Company 4 in Saudi Arabia.[59]
  • SAR 1,013 per ton was the average feed selling price in 2023 at Milling Company 4 in Saudi Arabia.[59]
  • SAR 861 per ton was the average bran selling price in 2024 at Milling Company 4 in Saudi Arabia.[59]
  • SAR 934 per ton was the average bran selling price in 2022 at Milling Company 4 in Saudi Arabia.[59]

Cost reduction in the wheat milling industry

  • 3.45 years was the projected overall payback period for Golden Wheat Mills’ energy project in Palestine.[60]
  • 155.259 MWh per year was the renewable-energy potential identified at Golden Wheat Mills in Palestine.[60]
  • NIS 96,525 per year were the estimated financial savings from energy-efficiency measures at Golden Wheat Mills.[60]
  • A 5% reduction in output efficiency can increase wheat-flour processing cost by about US$2.50 per ton, according to an IITA assessment.[61]
  • NIS 558,130 was the implementation cost of Golden Wheat Mills’ energy-efficiency and solar project in Palestine.[60]

Profitability in the wheat milling industry

  • 5.51% was T.S. Flour Mill’s return on equity in Thailand in 2023.[62]
  • 39% was Milling Company 4’s EBITDA margin in 2024.[59]
  • 38% was Milling Company 4’s EBITDA margin in 2023.[59]
  • 67.5% was T.S. Flour Mill’s year-on-year net-profit decline in Thailand in 2024.[63]
  • SAR 108 million was Milling Company 4’s EBITDA in 2021.[59]

Financial planning in the wheat milling industry

  • 947,263 tons was Milling Company 4’s wheat consumption in Saudi Arabia in 2024.[59]
  • 1,055,250 tons was Milling Company 4’s wheat-milling capacity in Saudi Arabia in 2024.[59]
  • US$504.416 million was the North Dakota Mill’s gross sales in fiscal 2024.[64]
  • 712,000 tons was Milling Company 4’s flour production volume in Saudi Arabia in 2024.[59]
  • US$24.860 million was the North Dakota Mill’s payroll cost in fiscal 2024.[64]

12 Statistics

Product & Service

Product specs are detailed by protein levels, such as 13.8% protein for ADM’s Gigantic high-gluten flour, plus declared service documentation coverage.

Product development in the wheat milling industry

  • 13.8% protein is specified for ADM’s Gigantic high-gluten flour, marketed for bagels, hard rolls, hearth breads and frozen doughs.[26]
  • 14.3% protein is specified for ADM’s Atlas flour, a bakers’ flour designed for variety breads and rye breads in the company’s product portfolio.[26]
  • 22 U.S. mills were included in ADM’s network achieving net-zero emissions in 2021 while processing wheat, sorghum and corn into flour products.[26]
  • 4 product-development stages are explicitly covered by Ardent Mills’ food-safety commitment: product development, procurement, production and supply-chain transportation.[65]
  • 14.3% protein is specified for ADM’s Hi-Rise high-gluten flour, positioned for specialty breads, hearth breads, artisan breads and pizza.[26]

Product lifecycle in the wheat milling industry

  • 16.446 million bushels of durum wheat were ground for flour and semolina in the United States in April–June 2025.[66]
  • 155,000 hundredweight of rye flour were produced in the United States in April–June 2025.[66]
  • 546,000 tons of rye millfeed were produced in the United States in April–June 2025.[66]
  • 1.590 million hundredweight per day was the United States’ 24-hour wheat-flour milling capacity in April–June 2025.[66]
  • 72,000 tons of durum millfeed were produced in the United States in April–June 2025.[66]

After-sales in the wheat milling industry

  • 22 U.S. flour mills were supported by ADM’s milling network in its 2021 net-carbon-neutral operations announcement, covering wheat, sorghum and corn processing.[26]
  • 3 years is the stated validity period for Ardent Mills’ technical and food-safety documents supplied to current and prospective flour customers.[65]
  • 3 technical-service laboratory functions are available through Ardent Mills’ crop-transition capability: small-scale milling, wet chemistry and dough-rheology analysis.[65]
  • 2 customer-facing technical support documents are specifically listed by Ardent Mills: a food-safety and quality questionnaire resource and safety-data sheets for milled products.[65]
  • 100+ certified millers are employed by Ardent Mills across its North American flour-milling and ingredient operations.[65]

Value proposition in the wheat milling industry

  • 4.8 million tonnes of wheat were milled by the UK flour-milling industry, according to its 2025 annual review.[53]
  • £300 million was invested in the UK flour-milling sector over the ten years covered by the 2025 annual review.[53]
  • $19.8 billion in annual sales were generated by the 84 major U.S. baking companies consuming the flour described in the USDA industry analysis.[67]
  • 102 million hundredweight of wheat flour were consumed annually by 84 major U.S. baking companies covered in a USDA industry analysis.[67]
  • £1.8 billion was the annual turnover of the UK flour-milling industry in the 2025 annual review.[53]

13 Statistics

Sustainability & Ethics

Sustainability reporting includes waste intensity and renewable electricity shares, such as 2.4 kg waste per tonne of grain milled in the UK in 2023.

Sustainability in the wheat milling industry

  • 2.4 kg of waste was generated per tonne of grain milled by UK millers in 2023.[53]
  • 22.8 kWh of fuel was used per tonne of grain milled by UK millers in 2023.[53]
  • 1.8 kg of paper and cardboard was purchased per tonne of grain milled by UK millers in 2023.[53]
  • 1,810,318 metric tonnes of wheat were milled by Flour Mills of Nigeria during fiscal year 2022.[30]
  • 20% of electricity used by UK millers in 2023 came from renewable sources, mainly Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin certificates.[53]

ESG in the wheat milling industry

  • More than 27,000 acres of US wheat were covered by Miller Milling’s regenerative-practice partnerships.[68]
  • 56% of UK flour millers had set a sustainability target in the strategy assessment.[53]
  • 27% of LAP’s energy consumption came from solar energy in 2025.[41]
  • 59% of MML’s energy consumption came from grid electricity in 2025.[41]
  • 75% of UK flour millers had calculated Scope 1 carbon emissions in the strategy assessment.[53]

Ethics in the wheat milling industry

  • 5 workers were killed in the 2017 explosion at Didion Milling’s Cambria, Wisconsin, corn mill.[69]
  • 1 supply-chain mapping and risk-assessment procedure was required for SDN Flour Mill suppliers.[41]
  • 1 community grievance mechanism was identified as a stakeholder-engagement requirement for SDN Flour Mill.[41]
  • 25,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year is the estimated upper level for SDN Flour Mill’s post-investment greenhouse-gas emissions.[41]
  • 1 ESG management system was required for SDN Flour Mill to manage environmental and social risks under the IFC project action plan.[41]

CSR in the wheat milling industry

  • N1.1 trillion of economic value was distributed by Flour Mills of Nigeria in fiscal year 2022.[30]
  • N1.16 trillion of direct economic value was generated by Flour Mills of Nigeria in 2021/2022.[30]
  • N586,228,000 was invested by Flour Mills of Nigeria in host communities across its CSR pillars.[30]
  • 93% of economic value generated by Molini Pivetti was redistributed to stakeholders in 2024.[70]
  • 35,000 farmers were trained through the Flour Milling Association of Nigeria during the 2022 reporting period.[30]

Circular economy in the wheat milling industry

  • 0.075% of total UK flour-milling output was sent for composting.[53]
  • 22 tonnes of by-product are produced from every 100 tonnes of wheat milled in the UK and directed to animal feed.[53]
  • 1% of raw material entering a typical UK flour mill becomes bran and germ.[53]
  • 78.3% was Flour Mills of Nigeria’s flour extraction rate in fiscal year 2022.[30]
  • 0.3% of total output was waste generated by the UK flour-milling sector.[53]

Carbon footprint in the wheat milling industry

  • 473 kg CO2e per tonne was the reported carbon footprint of Star of the West’s low-carbon wheat flour.[71]
  • 87% of the European wheat-flour carbon footprint was attributed to agriculture in the 2025 SWIE figure.[72]
  • 290,238,374 kg CO2e of indirect emissions were reported by Flour Mills of Nigeria for fiscal year 2022.[30]
  • 46% lower was Star of the West’s low-carbon flour footprint than the cited US national average.[71]
  • 2% of the European wheat-flour carbon footprint was attributed to transport in the 2025 SWIE figure.[72]

15 Statistics

Globalization & Expansion

Capacity expansion and regional footprints are quantified via operating mill capacity, including 2,820 metric tons per day across five flour mills in Malaysia.

Globalization in the wheat milling industry

  • 1,070 metric tons per day is the flour-milling capacity of PPB Group’s Thailand operations in 2024.[79]
  • 5 flour mills operate in Malaysia, with total flour-milling capacity of 2,820 metric tons per day, according to PPB Group’s 2024 annual report.[79]
  • £1.8 billion was the annual turnover of the UK flour-milling industry in the latest annual review.[53]
  • 2,050 metric tons per day is the flour-milling capacity of PPB Group’s Vietnam operations in 2024.[79]
  • 4.8 million tonnes of wheat were milled by the UK flour-milling industry in the latest annual review period.[53]

Cultural adaptation in the wheat milling industry

  • All Malayan Flour Mills products were halal-certified by Malaysia’s Department of Islamic Development in 2024.[78]
  • 1,175 metric tons per day was First Mills’ animal-bran capacity in 2025.[22]
  • The United States produced 31.506 million hundredweight of durum flour and semolina in 2024 for products requiring durum wheat.[80]
  • The United States produced 289,000 hundredweight of whole-wheat durum flour and semolina in 2024.[80]
  • 20% of North Dakota Mill’s finished products were packaged in 5-, 10-, 25- and 50-pound bags for retail and other packaged markets.[81]

Supplier management in the wheat milling industry

  • 5.3 million bushels is North Dakota Mill’s terminal-elevator wheat-storage capacity.[81]
  • 15 years of reported efficiency improvements reduced average energy use per tonne of grain milled by 9.5% in the UK sector.[53]
  • 47 domestic milling companies were identified as operating U.S. production facilities or mills in the cited industry analysis.[67]
  • MFM broadened procurement sources for wheat, corn and soybean meal in 2024 to reduce supply-disruption risk.[78]
  • 40 million bushels of spring and durum wheat are handled annually by North Dakota Mill.[81]

Stakeholder management in the wheat milling industry

  • 48.7% was Arabian Mills’ Saudization rate in 2025.[22]
  • 99.8% was Arabian Mills’ product-compliance rate in 2025.[22]
  • 451 employees worked at Arabian Mills in 2025.[22]
  • 48.0% was Arabian Mills’ Saudization rate in 2024.[22]
  • 300 million ringgit was invested in the UK flour-milling sector over the latest ten-year period covered by the annual review.[53]

Distribution channels in the wheat milling industry

  • 12% of Australian flour products were exported in the cited flour-products channel overview.[82]
  • 60,500 hundredweight of milled products were shipped daily by North Dakota Mill in the latest company description.[81]
  • 12% of Australian flour products moved through foodservice channels in the cited flour-products channel overview.[82]
  • 44,600 metric tons was Arabian Mills’ warehouse-storage capacity in 2025.[22]
  • 185,000 metric tons was Arabian Mills’ silo-storage capacity in 2025.[22]

Key questions about the wheat milling industry

What is the current market size for wheat flour?
The global wheat flour market was valued at $186.83 billion in 2025. The market was projected to reach $194.38 billion in 2026.
How fast is the wheat flour market forecast to grow?
The forecast CAGR for 2026–2034 is 4.22%. By 2034, the market is projected to reach $273.98 billion.
Which companies lead the wheat milling industry?
Cargill leads Gitnux's 2026 wheat milling ranking with an Overall score of 9.6, with 6.5% revenue growth signal, and joint ownership of Ardent Mills. Ardent Mills is the runner-up at 9.1, with more than 40 locations specializing in flour and grain ingredients.
What technology changes are showing up in wheat mills?
Mills are using AI inspection and quality models, including YOLOv5n results and Mask R-CNN classification. Industrial blockchain traceability tests also cover wheat-flour HACCP and batch blocking rules.
How concentrated is wheat milling at the demand side?
The Saudi wheat-milling market is highly concentrated: four former state-owned milling companies accounted for 93.5% of wheat consumption in 2023. The same prospectus reported 19.7% for Modern Mills and 21.7% for Fourth Milling Company.
What regulatory requirement affects wheat flour production?
Wheat-flour fortification is a major regulatory requirement in many markets. In August 2026, 85 countries mandated fortification of wheat flour alone or in combination with other grains, including 61 countries with wheat-flour-only legislation.
Reference

Cite This Report

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APA
Samuel Norberg. (2026, November 10). Wheat Milling Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/wheat-milling-industry-statistics
MLA
Samuel Norberg. "Wheat Milling Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 10 Nov 2026, https://gitnux.org/wheat-milling-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Samuel Norberg. 2026. "Wheat Milling Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/wheat-milling-industry-statistics.

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