Milling & Baking News - November 19, 2019 - 12

People

Takuya Mitani to president and
c.e.o. of Miller Milling Co.
BLOOMINGTON, MINN. - Takuya
Mitani has been named president and
chief executive officer of Miller Milling Co. He succeeds Jeffrey Thomas,
who is retiring.
Mr. Mitani joined Nisshin Seifun
Group in 2006 from Cargill Japan and
became Miller Milling's director of finance from 2012 until 2017. His tenure
spanned both Nisshin's initial acquisition of Miller Milling's Fresno, Calif.,
and Winchester, Va., flour mills in
2012, and its 2014 acquisition of four
additional flour mills in connection
with the formation of Ardent Mills.
"Mitani has consistently delivered
results in a variety of challenging

roles," Miller Milling said. "We are
confident that he is the proper leader
to take Miller Milling's business to the
next stage."
Miller Milling expressed
appreciation for Mr. Thomas' work as president and
c.e.o. of the company, a role
he took on in June 2017 after
being promoted from vicepresident of operations.
"We are grateful for Thomas' many
contributions to date," Miller Milling
said. "His efforts as c.e.o. have helped
Miller Milling get to where it is today."
Miller Milling was founded in
Minneapolis in 1985 and began by

David Gardner, chief executive
of Nickles Bakery, dies at 70
NAVARRE, OHIO - David A. Gardner, chief executive officer of Alfred
Nickles Bakery, Inc., died Nov. 11
following a brief illness. He was 70
years old.
A graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University in 1971, Mr. Gardner served in
the U.S. Air Force for two years during
the Vietnam War.
He joined Nickles on a part-time
basis in 1967 and full time in 1971.
The business was established in
Navarre south of Akron, Ohio, in
1909 as the Navarre Bakery and Ice

Cream Company by his grandfather,
Alfred Nickles, a Swiss immigrant.
Mr. Gardner became
president and c.e.o. in
1999, succeeding his father, David E. Gardner,
who had held the position since 1980, and Ernest Nickles, who was
c.e.o. from 1949 until Gardner
1980. David A. Gardner
served on the Nickles Bakery board of
directors for 26 years and was chairman of the Long Co. Independent

Ardent promotes Troy Anderson
to vice-president of operations
DENVER - Troy Anderson has been
named vice-president of operations at
Ardent Mills. He succeeds Brad Allen,
who retired in May.
In his new role, Mr. Anderson will
seek to center operations on the peoplefocused pillar of Ardent Mills. Additionally, Ardent said Mr. Anderson will work
to change the structure of operations to
intentionally align similar mills (in size
and configuration) to share best practices
and partner for customer success.
Mr. Anderson joined Ardent Mills in
May 2014 as senior director of operations.
Earlier, he was vice-president of operations at Horizon Milling for four years.
He also served as a regional operations
manager for the company. He began his
career with Cargill in 1992, holding a
12 / November 19, 2019

Milling & Baking News

variety of plant operations positions, including regional operations leader, plant
manager, project manager, assistant plant
manager, head miller and production supervisor.
He received a bachelor's degree in
milling science and management from
Kansas State University in
Manhattan.
"We are making significant changes to our leadership team in order to position Ardent Mills to deliver
on our strategic growth
plan," said Daniel P. Dye, Anderson
chief executive officer of
Ardent Mills. "Brad was instrumental in
building a solid operations team. With his
retirement, we wanted to bring in a new

providing durum semolina to large
customers through regional destination mills. In 2012, Miller Milling
became a part of the Nisshin Seifun
Group of Japan. In 2014, Miller Milling acquired four milling operations
in California, Texas and Minnesota.
According to Sosland Publishing
Company's 2019 Grain &
Milling Annual, Miller Milling has daily wheat flour
milling capacity of 106,000
cwts, total durum flour capacity of 18,500 cwts, and
total mill grain storage
capacity of 7,780,000 bus. The company's 106,000 cwts of daily capacity
makes it the fourth largest flour milling company in North America, behind Ardent Mills, ADM Milling Co.
and Grain Craft. MBN
Bakers' Cooperative for 20 years.
Mr. Gardner is survived by his wife
Susie (Rinehart) of 48 years; children
Christian (Missy) of Akron, and Molly
Burba (Andre) of Armonk, N.Y.; and
five grandchildren, Anderson, Juliet,
Ivy, Wes and Will David.
A celebration of Mr. Gardner's life
was to be held on Friday, Nov. 15, at
Christ Presbyterian Church, 530 Tuscarawas St. W., Canton, Ohio.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may
be sent to the Jackson School for the
Arts at Jackson High School or to the
Jackson High School Athletic Department, 7600 Fulton Drive N.W.,
Massillon, Ohio, 44646; or to Christ
Presbyterian Church. MBN

leader that understood our past and also
understands our long-term vision. Troy is
that person. He is a significant driver in
aligning our critical operations structure
with the rest of the organization."
Ardent Mills also announced that
Mark Kruger has been promoted to
vice-president of human resources and
employment law. Mr. Kruger will work
closely with Mr. Anderson to make strategic decisions in the best interests of team
members and the business, Ardent said.
Mr. Kruger most recently was labor
and employment law counsel at Ardent
since 2014. Earlier, he spent 17 years at
Cargill as the company's senior in-house
labor and employment attorney. He began his career as an associate at law firm
Gray Plant Mooty.
He received a bachelor's degree in economics from Gustavus Adolphus College
and a juris doctorate degree in law from
the University of Minnesota. MBN
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Milling & Baking News - November 19, 2019

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