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For Silvan Trunz, sustainability in flour milling is not a separate agenda, but a smarter way of running the mill with less energy, less waste, and greater transparency. In this interview, the Head of Sustainability at Bühler Milling Solutions explains why the biggest gains will come from better yield control, digital monitoring, and more intelligent process management across the entire milling system.

As power costs rise and margins come under pressure, controlling specific energy consumption has become a strategic issue that directly affects profitability, competitiveness, and long-term plant performance.

For milling companies, sustainability is becoming a central strategic challenge. Lower energy consumption, higher yields, and reduced waste simultaneously decrease operating costs and environmental impact, making sustainability both a compliance requirement and a commercial opportunity.

As energy costs rise and sustainability expectations grow, milling companies are being forced to rethink how efficiency is achieved on the plant floor. From process optimization and digital monitoring to smarter use of raw materials and side streams, the path to greener milling is increasingly becoming a path to stronger competitiveness.

Pulses are moving from staple foods to strategic nutrition assets. Plant-based proteins, meanwhile, are progressing beyond early consumer hype into a broader industrial ecosystem spanning milling, fractionation, fermentation and food formulation.

In the heart of southern Hungary, a state-of-the-art pea processing facility is redefining the future of sustainable agriculture. Tradition meets innovation at Helvét-Farm, where peas, once overlooked, are now powering a new protein paradigm. It is a bold response to shifting market demands.

Global pulses trade eased to an estimated 21.0 million tonnes in 2025 (Jan/Dec), down 6% year-on-year as weaker Indian buying, particularly of dry peas and lentils, offset firm demand elsewhere, while the IGC expects flows to rebound modestly in 2026 on stronger Asian demand and a potential recovery in China’s yellow pea imports.

Modern flour mills are no longer judged by how quickly they fix breakdowns, but by how effectively they prevent them.

Flour mills operate under harsh conditions where dust load, humidity swings, heat, vibration and continuous mechanical stress make unplanned downtime one of the costliest disruptors on the plant floor.

Flour fortification turns millers into partners in national human capital, cutting the hidden economic costs of malnutrition and creating a triple win: stronger margins, stronger policy alignment, and healthier societies, because millers are not just grinding grain; they are fortifying the future.

In our January cover story, we examine how flour fortification is evolving from a proven tool against hidden hunger into a strategic opportunity for the milling industry.

For decades, the global grain and milling economy has been framed in the language of acres, tonnes, margins and risk. What has often remained invisible is the talent shaping those numbers from the inside: the women who operate mills and laboratories, lead trading desks, run farmer networks, manage HR and training, and represent their companies on the international stage.