Munke Mølle

Munke Mølle

Painting by Dankvart Dreyer, c. 1844
Type	Cooperative
Industry	Food
Founded	1135
Headquarters	Odense, Denmark

The Munke Mølle (lit. Monks Mill) is the oldest still functioning company in Denmark founded in 1135 as a water mill on the Odense River in Odense city.^[1] The mill has been a purveyor (Danish: Kongelig Hofleverandør) to 38 kings and 2 queens, and today produces bread and cake mixes.^[2]

History

Munke Mølle is the longest running company in Denmark – it was founded by Benedictine monks in 1135. The mill for 90 years produced two of Denmark's most recognized brands "Gluten Flour" and "Amo", and has over the years provided flour for both private bakeries and the food industry.

• 1135 – The mill was founded in Odense by English Benedictine monks convened by Eric I of Denmark with the shrine in Odense Cathedral.
• 1536 – During the Protestant Reformation the mill was owned by the King and operated by the County men, later by millers in the lease.
• 1881 – The mill was purchased by an entrepreneur from Svendborg. From the ancient water mill he created in few years one of the most modern steam-powered commercial mills in Denmark.
• 1905 – The mill moved to the new buildings at Odense Harbour, where it still is located.
• 1919 – New generation industrial mills operating in America; launched the "Gluten Flour", one of Denmark's oldest and best-known brands. As an innovation Gluten Flour was delivered weighed in paper bags for retail. This packaging is still used as the flour must have oxygen in order not to lose its baking quality.
• 1960 – Munke Mølle purchased the Dampmøllen Victoria mills, also at Odense Harbour, producing the second best known Danish brand of flour "Amo".
• 1976 – Munke Mølle merged with Havnemøllerne in Fredericia and Copenhagen. Together they cover gradually the majority of the Danish flour market for households, craft and industrial bakeries.
• 1985 – Mill became supplier to the Royal Danish Court. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s it expanded production with bagemix for bread and buns, popular cut cakes, pizzas, waffles and pancakes, both for industrial and home baking.
• 1999 – Purchase of Drabæks Mill in Lunderskov, Denmark's largest producer of organic flour and breakfast cereals under the trademark "Kornkammeret".
• Today Monks Mill is part of the Cerealia Group operated by the Swedish agricultural cooperative Lantmännen.

See also

• List of oldest companies

References

• Gertjan de Groot (January 1995). Women Workers and Technological Change in Europe in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Taylor & Francis. pp. 42–. ISBN 978-0-7484-0260-1. 
• Dorrit Andersen; Henrik Thrane; Tage Kaarsted (1979). Odense bys historie: - -Byen vokser: Odense Kommune i kort. Odense Universitetsforlag. p. 53–. ISBN 978-87-7492-302-2. 
• Charlotte Langkilde (9 November 2016). Oluffa. Lindhardt og Ringhof. pp. 119–. ISBN 978-87-11-68026-1. 
• Hans Chr Johansen; Per Boje (1998). En dansk nicheproduktion: historien om Lactosan-Sanovo Holding A/S. Odense universitetsforlag. pp. 214–. ISBN 978-87-7838-355-6. English summary Chapter I: The first step is the hardest (1941-45) In 1937 Munke Mølle, the old and well- established grain mill company in Odense, invested in a new spray drier constructed by the pioneering Danish firm Niro Atomizer - to ... 

Article contains translated text from Munke Mølle on the Danish Wikipedia retrieved on 1 February 2017.

External links

• "Munke Mølle A/S". Kongelige Hofleverandører.  (in Danish)