By  Stan Maddux                                                                                                          Indiana Correspondent          

QUINCY, Mich. — Two wheat flour mills are being consolidated into a new and much larger operation in northern Indiana.  

Star of the West Milling Company, one of the largest millers in North America, has announced its flour mill in Quincy, Mich., will close on or about January 1. A mill in Ligonier, Ind., closed a few months ago. 

The company built a new mill in Ligonier which has the capacity to produce as much as two million pound of flour per day.  In comparison, the mill in Quincy has a daily capacity of 340,000 pounds of flour while the old mill in Ligonier could generate as much as 820,000 pounds of flour a day.                                                                                                                                               “Our company grew in its ability to make flour but we did it in one facility instead of two,” said Mike Fassezke, President of the company’s flour milling division.  Fassezke said the elevator at the mill in Quincy will remain open and continue to store wheat from growers in southern Michigan and northern Indiana until it’s shipped to the new facility for grinding into flour.                                                                                                                                            The bulk truck washing operation at the mill will also remain open to sanitize the inside of the trailers used to haul wheat after delivery.                                                                                                                                          The 15 or so workers in Quincy have been offered job opportunities at the new facility and the firm’s mill in Frankenmuth, Mich., where the firm is headquartered, according to company officials.   

The company also has mills in Willard, Ohio, and Churchville, New York.                                                                       Fassezke said a majority of their flour is shipped in bulk to large makers of cookies, donuts, cake mixes and other similar products within a 300-mile radius of each mill.                                                                             He said the decision to consolidate the two mills had a lot to do with reducing operating expenses to remain competitive in the industry at a time when consumption of wheat flour in the U.S. has been stagnant over the past several years.                                                                                                                                   “It’s all about efficiencies and scale of operations and that type of thing.  If you want to survive, you got to move on,” he said.                                                                                                                                              Fassezke said money could have been spent on renovating the old mills but given their age and lower production capacities, building a new mill with room for future growth in production was felt to be a better return on the investment.                                                                                                                                        “We could have remodeled it.  We could have put all new equipment in it but you’re still operating in a very, very old structure,” he said.                                                                                                                                    Fassezke noted other flour milling companies in recent years have been replacing their old mills with newer, much larger and more efficient operations.                                                                                                           “We’re not the only ones following that strategy,” he said.                                                                                      Fassezke said the new mill being just a one hour or so drive from the one about to close made what was a difficult decision a little easier because it can serve the company’s entire existing customer base.     

Star of the West Milling Company began over 150 years ago in Frankenmuth in what was then a small steam-powered mill, according to the company.                                                                                                                In addition to flour, the firm is also a supplier of edible beans, food grade soybeans and ready-to-eat wheat flakes.                                                                                                                                             It also has an agronomy division consisting of more than 30 certified crop advisors that work directly with farmers along with 30 elevators and five bean processing facilities.