Peter Steiner began his technical education at the Master School for Beverage Technology at the Fermentation Institute of the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna. Following several years in technical and operational roles, he transitioned into commercial functions, focusing on business development across the food and beverage B2B sector in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Over the past three decades, he has held various senior commercial and general management positions within leading global companies in the flavours and nutrition industry, including Firmenich and Givaudan, where he also served as a member of the respective executive committees.
In February 2020, Peter Steiner joined Mühlenchemie as Global Head. In 2022, he additionally assumed global responsibility for DeutscheBack. His primary focus lies in the international development, strategic positioning and innovation leadership of both brands and organizations.
Since the centenary of MC Mühlenchemie in 2023, what have been your key priorities in ensuring that MC Mühlenchemie’s next century continues to blend scientific innovation with the human expertise that has defined its legacy?
We’ve been working first and foremost on meshing our international research network more closely with the teams at the customer sites. We’ve expanded our Stern-Technology Centers and boosted our local expert staff. They develop solutions that address regional requirements while simultaneously drawing on our worldwide expertise. At the same time, we’re always investing in new talent so the knowledge we’ve built up over decades is carried forward and feeds into our innovation. Digital tools increasingly play a role in this. They enable us to multiply expertise without neglecting the personal customer relationships that make us who we are. Local innovation, systematic knowledge transfer and smart digitalisation – this combination ensures that the second century of MC will be marked by the same pioneering spirit and customer closeness as the first one.
What do you see as the biggest global forces shaping your industry right now? How has MC Mühlenchemie adapted its operations and innovation pipeline in response to the varied challenges this year?
Three forces are currently driving developments. Climate change is bringing a previously unheard-of range of variation in wheat quality. Geopolitical shifts are driving the regionalisation of supply chains. And consumers and regulatory bodies are increasingly demanding sustainability and enriched foods. We are responding with better data analysis and especially by expanding our composite flour solutions. They help millers combine wheat with local crops like cassava or sorghum, and this has long since gone beyond being merely economically beneficial to become a food security strategy. Our new locations in South China and Kenya provide secure supplies regardless of global developments. For regions with nutrient deficiencies, we’ve developed flexible enrichment solutions. In our innovation pipeline, operative flexibility now has priority – enzyme toolboxes that make it possible to adjust flour parameters, and digital services with real-time analyses, so that instead of just reacting, millers can act strategically.
How do you envision AI and data-driven innovations transforming the role of millers and food producers globally in the near future?
AI is changing the role of the miller fundamentally, from problem-solver to strategist. In our pilot mill in Ahrensburg we analyse grain samples while they are still on the way to the customer. The miller gets information before his shipment even arrives. In the future, AI systems will continuously optimise processes and automatically adjust treatment protocols based on grain quality, ambient conditions and customer requirements. That doesn’t replace expertise but instead reinforces it. Millers can focus on strategic decisions while AI handles the detail adjustments. For food producers that means consistent quality across national borders despite differing raw materials. AI is also accelerating our enzyme developments through pattern recognition in worldwide application data. But people remain indispensable. Customer understanding, trust, dealing with different cultures and regulations – AI can do none of that. We rely on human expertise reinforced by AI.
Do you see an increasing need for cross-industry cooperation to tackle shared challenges such as nutrition, logistics and sustainability? How do you view the industry’s responsibility in addressing these global issues?
Absolutely. Food security, environmental protection, robust supply chain – no single industry can provide this alone. We’re working more with health organisations, governments and NGOs, for example on enrichment strategies. Flour is an ideal vehicle against malnutrition, because billions of people consume it daily. Our composite flour effort likewise works only with in collaboration with other actors – growers, millers and food producers must coordinate and work together. Our industry has a special responsibility, since 35 to 40 percent of humanity is dependent on wheat-based products. When we improve fresh-keeping or deliver consistent quality despite varying raw materials, we make a large-scale contribution to food security. We need to communicate this more clearly and work with the political sector more actively. Cross-industry collaboration for us also means learning from others. The manufacturing industry is farther along on predictive maintenance, as is the health industry on quality assurance and traceability. Developments like this accelerate our own transformation.
For the previous World Flour Day, the focus theme was community engagement and social responsibility. What would it be for the upcoming one? Do you have any information to share with us?
For 2026 we’re developing the theme further, from ‘Feeding Your Community’ to ‘Flour is Life’. We want to show the central role flour plays for worldwide nutrition. We’re making it tangible with a project in Kenya, the Dreamhouse Children Initiative near Nairobi. At this school and orphanage, 200 to 300 children were attending classes in sheet-metal huts that were unbearably hot. We helped them build a proper school with two stories and solid classrooms. What’s special about it is that today, the school is financially independent. In addition to the orphans, the school also accepts neighbourhood children, whose parents pay tuition. Flour makes up the bulk of what the children eat, in the form of chapati, mandazi bread made of wheat, ugali made of cornmeal and vegetables. This illustrates in a tangible way that flour is life for millions of people, day by day. Our campaign is multiyear. In 2024 the local community was in the limelight. In 2025 we extended it to the regions, for 2026 we’re focusing on Africa, and in 2027 and 2028 Asia and Latin America will follow. We want to create awareness – flour is not a given, but a staple food that enables education, health and opportunity, worldwide.
As you look ahead, what excites you most about the future of milling and flour technology? Which trends do you believe will reshape the industry over the next five years?
What excites me most is that today we understand flour for what it is: A demanding but adaptable ingredient, a basic ingredient for billions, not a replaceable trade good. The development of our industry reflects the changes in the world, with all the challenges and opportunities that a staple food brings. We’re experiencing, not a revolution, but a continuous change process. Enzymatic solutions are becoming more varied as well as more targeted. Regional raw materials are gaining in importance, as is the promotion of health. Digitalisation is bringing more transparency and efficiency. Solutions are getting more individual. And the subject of food security and availability is coming into sharper focus. All these factors are part of a change in perspective: Flour is the starting point of a value chain in which consulting and technical support are just as important as the grain itself. MC is accompanying these developments as a partner of the millers – as we have done for over 100 years.
