Archer Daniels Midland

Type:Public
Founded: Minneapolis, Minnesota (1902)
Headquarters: Decatur, Illinois
Key people: Patricia A. Woertz, Chairman, CEO & President
Industry: Agribusiness, Agriculture, Food industry
Products:foods, beverages, feed, ethanol, bioenergy
Website: www.admworld.com

General Information

The Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM), based in Decatur, Illinois, operates more than 270 plants worldwide, where cereal grains and oilseeds are processed into numerous products used in food, beverage, nutraceutical, industrial and animal feed markets worldwide.

ADM also provides agricultural storage and transportation services. Company divisions include: ADM Cocoa, ADM Corn Processing, ADM Food Additives, ADM Lecithin, ADM Milling, ADM Monoglycerides, ADM Vitamin E, ADM Protein Specialties, ADM Food Oils. The American River Transportation Company along with ADM Trucking, Inc are subsidiaries of ADM. ADM's revenues for fiscal 2007 (ending June 30, 2007) were US $44 billion.

Products

Typical products include oils and meal from soybeans, cottonseed, sunflower seeds, canola, peanuts, flaxseed, and Diacylglycerol (DAG) oil, as well as corn germ, syrup, starch, glucose, dextrose, crystalline dextrose, High fructose corn syrup sweeteners, ethyl alcohol, and wheat flour. End uses are consumption by people and livestock, and fuel additives.

Long known as a food and ingredients company, ADM has recently shifted increasing resources towards fuel production. According to Foodprocessing.com, a food industry trade publication, ADM nearly doubled capital spending in its 2007 budget to an estimated $1.12 billion. All of the increase is planned for bioenergy projects, with a particular focus on ethanol and biodiesel.

history

In 1902, George A. Archer and John W. Daniels began a linseed crushing business. In 1923, Archer-Daniels Linseed Company acquired Midland Linseed Products Company, and the Archer Daniels Midland Company was formed. Every decade since its corporate inception, ADM has added at least one major profit center to its agribusiness: milling, processing, specialty feed ingredients, specialty food ingredients, cocoa, nutrition, and more.

In September 1999, executive Marty Andreas announced that, under pressure from the European agricultural industry, they were going to separate crops into genetically modified and non-genetically modified groups to give their customers a choice. Previously the company had not disclosed their crop sources.

In May 2006, Patricia A. Woertz became CEO. Formerly of Chevron, she is expected to focus on developing ethanol and biofuels. In February of 2007 she became Chairman of the Board at ADM.