World Grain - September 2024 - 36

FEATURE: ROYAL FAMILY
" Back in 1983, we built a fast loadout with four bins
that could hold four truckloads, each on load cells, "
Brian said. " We would dial in the weight we wanted
and shut it off. Nobody was making a bin-bottom for
that. We talked with Russ and Jim Kice and told them
we needed to have something to do that and also be
able to blow it from one bin to another so we could
blend it in. We asked them to design something like
that and they did. We still use those same bin bottoms
today that we did back then because they work. "
Another important innovation occurred in the 1960s,
when King Milling developed a proprietary process
that deactivated wheat enzymes for a longer shelf life.
" We made further refinement to the process in the
1980s and early 2000s, " Brian said. " This wheat is
milled and sold under our Ceres line of products. "
King Milling always has been willing to go the extra
Some of
the flour
produced at
King Milling
is shipped to
customers
in bulk.
pleting the new mill in 1945, William Doyle died of a
heart attack at age 54. He left the mill to his wife and
two sons, King, age 23, and Mike, age 15. King Doyle,
who was serving in WWII in the Pacific, was granted a
90-day leave from the navy to return home and put his
father's affairs in order.
" Dad was on a destroyer near Okinawa when it was
attacked by Kamikazes, " Brian said. " The ship had to
go to a dry dock for repairs. That's where the Red Cross
caught up with him to tell him that his dad had died,
so dad got on a ship going back to the states that was
carrying the caskets of fallen service members. He was
given 90 days to come back. By the end of 90 days, the
war was over. "
Marveling at what his grandfather had to go through
during that tumultuous period, Patrick added: " It's
called the greatest generation for a reason. "
On the cutting edge
Regardless of the era, King Milling always has valued
cutting-edge technology and innovation.
Under King and Mike's leadership, which spanned
50 years, production capacity at the mill was increased
to 5,400 cwts of flour per day and another milling line
capable of producing 4,000 cwts of whole wheat products
per day was added.
In the 1960s, King Milling was among the first to
switch from the bucket system for conveying flour to
pneumatic conveying from Kice Industries, Inc. Like
King Milling, Wichita, Kansas-based Kice is a multigenerational
family business with a long history in the
US milling industry. Brian said the partnership with
Kice, much like its partnership with milling equipment
manufacturer Bühler, has thrived over many decades.
36
mile to guarantee the highest quality products for its
customers, the Doyles noted.
An example of this occurred in the 2010s when King
Milling became the first flour mill in the world to earn
Safe Quality Food (SQF) certification. It came on the
heels of an incident involving Peanut Corporation.
" They had a Superior AIB rating, then had the blowup, "
Brian noted. " We also had a Superior AIB rating,
so we thought we had to do something better. We
sought SFQ certification; Jim spearheaded that effort.
We told customers it would be a two-year process before
we were certified so we wouldn't have a two-party
audit for two years. Our customers told us they would
be supportive of that as long as we were moving forward.
We kept them abreast of our progress and some
of them actually helped us achieve it. "
Looking ahead
King Milling has its eyes on growth. Although there's
not enough room for expansion at the current location,
Brian said the company has options. It owns 52 acres of
land eight miles south of Lowell and is also open to the
idea of expanding outside the Grand Rapids area. They
also will monitor technological advances, such as the
use of artificial intelligence, that can enhance their ability
to improve flour quality and production efficiencies.
Whatever decisions are made will be motivated by
one enduring company principle.
" Part of our emphasis on reinvestment is the quality
and service we are able to give to our customers by
keeping our facilities up to date so there's no gap in
service and quality, " Patrick said. " The customers get
flour when they want it and to the standards they've
come to expect. "
We want to hear from you - Send comments and inquiries
to worldgrain@sosland.com. For reprints of WG articles,
email reprints@sosland.com.
September 2024 / World Grain / World-Grain.com
http://www.World-Grain.com
World Grain - September 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of World Grain - September 2024
