OUR HISTORY

In 1934, Great Western Malting was formed by a consortium of Northwestern businessmen, which included: Arnold Blitz, William Einzig (Blitz-Weinhard), J. R. Bowles, Phillip Polsky (Star Brewing), Henry Collins (Pacific Continental Grain Company), Peter Schmidt (Olympia Brewing) and Emil Sick (Century Brewing).

In 1960, Great Western Malting and California Malting merged, creating a new company called Great Western Malting Co., with malt plants in Vancouver, Wash., and Los Angeles, Calif.

In 1981, a new 90,000-metric-tonne malt plant was completed at Pocatello, Idaho.

In 1995, Great Western Malting was purchased by joint venture partners ConAgra Foods and Tiger Brands. Great Western Malting, along with Canada Malting Co. Limited, Barrett Burston Malting and Bairds Malt, became part of ConAgra Malt.

In 2006, Castle Harlan, together with its affiliate CHAMP Private Equity, acquired ConAgra Malt and created United Malt Holdings (UMH).

In November 2009, UMH (consisting of Canada Malting, Great Western Malting, Bairds Malt and Barrett Burston Malting) was purchased by GrainCorp, a leading Australian grain handler and marketer. The acquisition led to the creation of GrainCorp Malt and transformed GrainCorp into an international agribusiness with operations in Australia, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

In 2020, GrainCorp Malt demerged from GrainCorp to form United Malt. United Malt is now one of the world’s largest producers of malt for use in the brewing and distilling industries.

Great Western Malting Co. Limited is focused on delivering quality malt to meet customer requirements. We apply strict quality-control procedures in grain selection, malt production, shipping, and testing. Within our exacting standards, Great Western Malting employs a world-class quality and food-safety management system (Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points (HACCP) Certification) thus ensuring a high standard of food-safety management.