Overview
Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. (ADM) is a global agricultural supply-chain manager and processor. It sources, transports, stores and processes crops, turning them into food and beverage ingredients, animal nutrition products, vegetable oils and other products. ADM states its purpose as unlocking “the power of nature to enrich the quality of life.” [1][2][3][4]
ADM organizes its business into three segments: Ag Services and Oilseeds, Carbohydrate Solutions, and Nutrition. Together they span agricultural commodity handling, oilseed and grain processing, and ingredients for human and animal nutrition. The company serves global markets and reported approximately $80.3 billion in 2025 revenue and 41,496 employees at year-end 2025.[2][3][4][5] [1][2][3][4][5]
Products & services
Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) sources, stores, transports and trades agricultural commodities, and crushes soybeans and other oilseeds into vegetable oils and protein meals. Its oils are sold in crude or refined form for food products such as salad oils, margarine and shortening, as well as for biodiesel and other industrial uses. Protein meals are used primarily in animal feed. Ag Services and Oilseeds accounted for approximately 77% of ADM’s 2025 revenue; ADM does not report revenue separately for individual oils or meals.[2][6]
ADM mills corn and wheat into starches, glucose, dextrose, syrups, sweeteners and flour. It also makes ethanol, fermentation feedstocks, citric acid and feed co-products such as corn gluten feed and distillers’ grains. Its specialty sweeteners include SweetRight® stevia and reduced-sugar glucose syrup; ADM describes the latter as a potential one-for-one replacement for conventional glucose syrup in suitable formulations.[7][8]
For food and beverage manufacturers, ADM supplies soy and other plant proteins, flavors, naturally derived colors, emulsifiers, soluble fibers, hydrocolloids, probiotics and botanical extracts. Its animal-nutrition range includes complete feeds, feed ingredients and targeted additives, alongside formulation and advisory services. Examples include NutriPass™ L, an encapsulated lysine product designed to pass through a cow’s rumen, and citrus flavor technologies sold under the Corefold®, EZCore® and ClearCore® names.[9][10][11] [2][6][6][7][9][8][10][11]
Geographic presence
Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) has its principal executive offices in Chicago, Illinois, and sources agricultural commodities across North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia-Pacific. Its processing plants are generally located near agricultural raw-material sources.[5][12][13]
In 2025, ADM reported $80.3 billion in revenue by the country of the subsidiary making the sale—not necessarily the customer’s location. The largest reported amounts were the United States ($31.2 billion, about 39% of total revenue) and Switzerland ($17.8 billion, about 22%). It also reported revenue through subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands ($6.1 billion), Brazil ($3.4 billion), Mexico ($2.7 billion), the United Kingdom ($2.1 billion) and Canada ($1.8 billion); other foreign countries accounted for $15.2 billion.[14][5]
At the end of 2025, ADM’s 41,496 employees were distributed across North America (18,851), Europe, the Middle East and Africa (10,202), Latin America (9,528) and Asia-Pacific (2,915). Its regional processing capacity was concentrated in North America, followed by Europe, the Middle East and Africa and Latin America.[15][16] [12][13][14][15][16][16][16][5]
Business segments
ADM reports three business segments. In 2025, Ag Services and Oilseeds accounted for approximately 77% of revenue from external customers across the reportable segments. It sources, stores, transports and trades agricultural commodities, and crushes oilseeds into vegetable oils and protein meals for food, feed, energy and industrial uses. Its reported business lines are Ag Services, Crushing, and Refined Products and Other.[2][6][17]
Carbohydrate Solutions contributed approximately 13% of reportable-segment external revenue. It mills corn and wheat to produce sweeteners, starches, flour, ethanol and animal-feed ingredients; its business lines are Starches and Sweeteners and Vantage Corn Processors. Nutrition contributed approximately 9% and comprises Human Nutrition and Animal Nutrition, supplying ingredients and products for food, beverages, supplements, animal feed and pet food. Percentages are based on 2025 external-customer revenue and are rounded.[3][4][6][17] [2][3][4][6][17]
Company history
Archer-Daniels-Midland traces its origins to a linseed-crushing business founded by George A. Archer and John W. Daniels in Minneapolis in 1902. Daniels Linseed Co. adopted the Archer Daniels Midland name in 1923, began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in 1924, and expanded into soybean crushing in 1929. The company moved its headquarters to Decatur, Illinois, in 1969 and acquired its first soybean-processing plants in Europe and South America in 1974.[18][19]
ADM invested in Asian agribusiness Wilmar in 1994 and acquired an 80% stake in agricultural merchant Alfred C. Toepfer International in 2002. In 1996, ADM agreed to plead guilty and pay a $100 million criminal fine for its role in international lysine and citric-acid price-fixing conspiracies. Patricia Woertz became chief executive in 2006. ADM later acquired the remaining stake in Toepfer and completed its acquisition of WILD Flavors in 2014, extending its activities in food ingredients; it sold its global cocoa business in 2015.[19][20][21][22][23][24] [18][19][20][21][22][23][24]
Sources
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