The Krusteaz Company has extended its longstanding partnership with Siemer Milling Company by signing a new 10-year contract.
Building upon a successful 25-year relationship, Siemer Milling is Krusteaz's largest ingredient supplier, providing 180 million pounds of flour every year and is the principal wheat flour supplier for the company's Effingham, Illinois, facility and sole supplier for the Hopkinsville, Kentucky, facility.
"The Siemer Milling Company team has truly been an extension of our family at The Krusteaz Company, and the last 25 years have been a wonderful example of what partnerships should look like," said Andy Heily, president and CEO of Krusteaz. "We're happy to work so closely with another like-minded family-run business and look forward to the continued collaboration for many years to come."
Krusteaz has operated in Effingham, Illinois, since 2013 when it purchased the facility, and the company has invested in expansion and renovations in the past several years. The facility has created line capabilities to service Krusteaz branded gluten-free baking and pancake mix products as well as new capabilities in frozen foods making Red Lobster frozen Cheddar Bay biscuits. Siemer Milling Company employs 90 people at its office and mill in Teutopolis, Illinois, which is just down the road from The Krusteaz Company's Effingham facility.
Krusteaz has also operated its largest manufacturing facility in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, since 1999, adjacent to Siemer Milling Company where an average of 500,000 pounds of flour per day is transferred through a pipe that connects the two facilities. Hopkinsville is also officially known as the Batter Capital of the World, bringing together industries from farm to table and recognized for its production of globally recognizable food products, including products made by Krusteaz and Siemer Milling.
"I don't think we could be on better terms with a customer than we are with The Krusteaz Company," said Rick Siemer, president & CEO of Siemer Milling. "It goes beyond a relationship, beyond a partnership, to a friendship, and it definitely works to our mutual benefit."
As two reputable and longstanding local employers in their areas, the companies said they look forward to continuing mutual success and community impact through economic growth, employment opportunities and developing local partnerships.
In addition to its Hopkinsville and Effingham facilities, Krusteaz also manufactures at its hometown facility in Kent, Washington, as well as in Manhattan, Kansas. The company is headquartered in Tukwila, Washington.
Siemer Milling's primary product is wheat flour milled to different specifications for the making of such foods as cookies, crackers, cakes, pretzels, batters and breadings, bread and biscuits. Today, its grain milling operations employ over 170 people; purchase 25 million bushels of locally-grown wheat annually, with a current market value in excess of $100 million; and produce 750,000 tons of processed wheat products, including flour, wheat bran and wheat germ.
