Nearly a century ago, the Archer Daniels Midland Company started with a single flax processing plant in the American Midwest. Today ADM is a major international company with processing, storage, transportation, and sales offices worldwide. The story of ADM’s growth is the story of 20th-century business: a global network serving a global marketplace.

ADM’s strength is drawn from its relationship to the land and to agriculture. As the link between the farmer and the food manufacturer, ADM provides farmers a market for their crops and, in turn, supplies feed ingredients for their animals. ADM’s processing adds value to the farmer’s corn, wheat, soybeans, and other grains, while our continued development of new products and processes increases the demand for those crops. By building strong worldwide markets for U.S. crops, ADM also strengthens its link with the American farmer and cooperatives.

ADM serves food processors and feed manufacturers by producing a wide range of quality ingredients at low cost—enough to feed 130 million people every day. We work closely with these customers to tailor products to their specific needs, and to develop new products and applications that will satisfy the requirements of a changing marketplace.

ADM emphasizes quality and efficiency in its operations. For example, finished products from the processing of one commodity might become the raw material for another product, while finished products from different commodities might share the same storage and transportation facilities. This emphasis on efficiency has led to flexible business relationships that serve both the farmer and the food manufacturer.

ADM complements its own resources with a worldwide network of affiliates engaged in processing, transportation, storage, and sales. This network enables us to effectively link farmers and food manufacturers throughout the world.