New Castell Mill in Krefeld: Security of supply for 5 million people
The GoodMills Group, a company under the umbrella of Raiffeisen Lower Austria-Vienna and Europe’s leading flour milling company, has inaugurated its newest production site in Krefeld’s Rhine harbor in the presence of LLI Supervisory Board President Erwin Hameseder as well as LLI General Director Josef Pröll. The Castell mill is one of the most modern, energy-efficient and safest mills in Central Europe and replaces the previous Ellmühle (Ell mill) in Cologne, which ceased operations in January of this year after more than 100 years. In the future, millions of people far beyond the borders of North Rhine- Westphalia will be supplied with the staple food flour from Krefeld. The aim of this investment is to expand the competitiveness of GoodMills in Germany in the long term and thus to secure GoodMills’ position on the European market as well.
Future-oriented investment with historical roots
In order to sustain the importance of GoodMills in and beyond North Rhine-Westphalia, as well as to continue to meet the increasing requirements in terms of quality, product and food safety, more than 80 million euros were invested in the construction of the new mill, which is the largest single investment of the mill group. The new mill now meets the latest standards in terms of production and efficiency and is, at the same time, also a platform for further major projects and developments of the Group. The aim is to consolidate and further expand the Group’s leading position in Europe.
The new building on the approx. 47,000m² site in the Rhine harbor revives Krefeld’s long tradition as a mill site, where large industrial mills already existed more than 100 years ago. In the course of the construction work, more than 10,000 archaeological finds were also discovered, including a millstone dating back to 20 A.D. Some 2,000 years later, one of the most modern mills in Europe now finds its home on this site.
The mill was given its name as part of an employee competition. The name Castellmühle is intended as a reminder of the Roman fort that once existed at this site, and at the same time it includes the name of the predecessor mill, the Cologne Ellmühle.
Systemically relevant for nurturing millions
The Castell mill is not only by far the largest grain mill of GoodMills, but with a total annual milling capacity of around 408,000 tons of grain, it is one of the most important and currently newest mill sites in all of Europe. It is “systemically relevant” for the nutrition of many millions of people and an important element in the nutrition value chain of North Rhine-Westphalia.
In addition to flours for bread and rolls, the product range also includes flours for frozen dough, flatbreads, hamburgers or buns, pizzas, noodles, waffles, cookies, cereals and breadcrumbs. The site also produces numerous high-quality and innovative specialty products for the food industry. The new Castell Mill has the option of “Milling on Demand,” which enables even more
individual and customer-specific milling. The customers of the Castell mill include companies in the food and baking industries as well as the bakery trade.
Implementation on schedule despite difficult conditions
After the foundation stone was laid in June 2018, the mill was built as a “greenfield project” within a construction period of only two years. After completion of the structural work at the end of 2019, the successive relocation of the mill technology from Cologne to Krefeld began – a particular challenge of this project, as the ability to supply customers had to be guaranteed at all times. Additionally, to this, even more difficult conditions were given due to the Corona pandemic. Nevertheless, the sensitive process was successfully completed with the installation and commissioning of the last of the three mill systems at the end of April 2021. Prior to this, the mill had already obtained all the necessary certifications (IFS, QS and energy audit) without any problems.
Castell mill facts
| Plant Manager: | Wolfgang Gruber |
| Number of employees: | approx. 40 |
| Total site area: | approx. 47,000 m² |
| Product range: | The product range extends from various types of flour (wheat and rye type flours) to special flours for the food industry, the baking trade, the catering trade and industrial processors. |
| Total annual milling capacity | approx. 408,000 tons |
| Production systems: | Three lines: Two wheat and one combined wheat- rye mill |
| Grinding capacity per day: | 1,160 tons / day |
| Grain delivery: | The grain comes both from the region and from EU countries bordering Germany and is delivered by rail, truck and ship (trimodal delivery). |
| Storage capacity: | approx. 30,000 tons of grain |
GoodMills Group GmbH
GoodMills Group is Europe’s largest milling company with 24 milling sites in seven countries and 2.8 million tons of grain processed in the fiscal year 2019/2020. GoodMills serves industrial customers as well as consumers directly and is a pioneer in innovation and development. In the fiscal year 2019/20 the company generated sales revenues of EUR 870 million with a total of 1,600 employees. DDr. Leonhard Gollegger, MBA is Chairman of the holding company GoodMills Group, based in Vienna.