The Archer-Daniels-Midland Company, commonly known as ADM, is an American multinational food processing and commodities trading corporation founded in 1902 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The company operates more than 270 plants and 420 crop procurement facilities worldwide, where cereal grains and oilseeds are processed into products used in food, beverage, nutraceutical, industrial, and animal feed markets worldwide.
ADM ranked No. 35 in the 2023 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations.
The company also provides agricultural storage and transportation services. The American River Transportation Company along with ADM Trucking, Inc., are subsidiaries of ADM.
ADM has been the subject of significant media attention and infamy over the years with its various scandals, one inspiring a novel and subsequent film The Informant!.
History
Early history
In 1902, John W. Daniels started a linseed crushing business in Minneapolis, Minnesota. George A. Archer joined the operation the next year, and in 1905 the firm's name officially became the Archer-Daniels Linseed Company. In 1923, Archer-Daniels Linseed Company acquired Midland Linseed Products Company and then incorporated as the Archer Daniels Midland Company. The new corporation had total assets exceeding $11 million and controlled just over a third (35%) of the total linseed mill capacity within the United States.
In 1924, ADM was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. A series of acquisitions over the next several years expanded the company's oil processing capabilities and agricultural operations, and a grain division was established in 1927. In 1930, ADM purchased control of the flour milling company Commander-Larabee Corp., which was capable of producing 32,000 barrels of flour per day. In 1934 the company began operating its first continuous solvent extraction plant in Chicago, Illinois and could now produce soybean oil. The rapid development of similar extraction plants soon followed.
By 1952, Archer Daniel Midland's workforce had expanded to 5,000 employees, and by 1952 the company was operating overseas and manufacturing over 700 products.
In 1962, the company acquired a trademark for "ADM" and began referring to itself by those initials. In 1965, ADM registered the original patent for textured vegetable protein and began producing the soy flour product at its Decatur East Plant by 1966.
In 1966, Dwayne Andreas and his brother Lowell Andreas became minority shareholders in ADM. In 1969, ADM relocated its headquarters from Minneapolis to Decatur, Illinois, a location closer to the company's soybean processing operations.
Dwayne Andreas period (1970–1997)
Dwayne Andreas was named CEO of ADM in 1970, and two years later was elected chairman of the company's board. Under his leadership, Archer Daniels Midland acquired many smaller agricultural companies and expanded into international markets, eventually becoming one of the world's largest agricultural processing companies. During this period, the company's soybean exports increased from $1.5 billion to $7 billion.
In 1974, ADM made its first expansion into Europe and South America when the company acquired soybean plants in Holland and Brazil.
In 1982, ADM established international grain operations when it purchased a portion of Toepfer International, a Germany-based grain trading firm.
In 1989, ADM purchased Collingwood Grain Inc. based in Hutchinson Kansas, adding 48 million bushels of grain storage at 36 terminal elevators. In 2001, Paul B. Mulhollem became the company's president. ADM was the first U.S. company to sign a contract with Cuba since the embargo against Cuba was imposed in October 1960. Dwayne Andreas stepped down from his position as CEO in 1997 and was succeeded by his nephew G. Allen Andreas. The transition occurred a year after the company pleaded guilty to price-fixing.
2006–present
In May 2006, Patricia A. Woertz became the company's chief executive officer. In February 2007, Woertz was elected chairman of the board at ADM.
In 2012, the company sought to acquire strategic holdings to support serving Asian markets through the acquisition of GrainCorp, an Australian grain firm with a network of storage and port facilities in Australia. On November 29, 2013, this acquisition was blocked by the Australian Treasurer.
The company moved its headquarters to Chicago in 2014.