Archer-Daniels-Midland Company

Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (ADM) is a Fortune 100 company that procures, transports, stores, processes, and merchandises agricultural commodities, products, and ingredients in the United States, Switzerland, Cayman Islands, Brazil, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and internationally. ADM was founded in 1902 by John W. Daniels and George A. Archer and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. This multinational company is one of the largest agricultural processors in the world, with over 300 processing plants operating in more than 140 countries.

ADM operates three business segments: Ag Services and Oilseeds, Carbohydrate Solutions, and Nutrition. The Ag Services and Oilseeds segment procures, stores, cleans, and transports agricultural raw materials such as oilseeds, corn, wheat, milo, oats, and barley. Its products include vegetable oils, proteins, and other commodities. The Carbohydrate Solutions segment manufactures maize-based sweeteners, syrups, and starches, as well as wheat-based flour and bakery products. The Nutrition segment produces natural health and nutrition products including probiotics, prebiotics, enzymes, and botanical extracts.

ADM is a market leader in biodiesel, ethanol, and a range of feed products. The company’s global reach has allowed it to become one of the largest suppliers of biofuels, producing over 2 billion gallons of ethanol in 2018 alone. It also produces over 4 million tons of animal feed each year.

In addition to its processing and trading services, ADM also offers futures commission merchant and commodity brokerage services, as well as cash margins and securities pledged to commodity exchange clearinghouses. The company has been the subject of various lawsuits over the years and in 2020 paid out over $54 million to settle a lawsuit related to an alleged bribery scandal. Despite this, ADM remains one of the world’s most successful agricultural companies, with a reported revenue of over $60 billion in 2020.