In the late 1800s, railroads and new technology opened national markets to Midwest producers, including Indiana, a leader in corn products. Joseph Gent patented operations and devices to mass-produce flaked corn, and Gaff, Gent, & Thomas Co. began making Cerealine flakes here circa 1880. A precursor to cold breakfast cereal, Cerealine was also used as a malt alternative by brewers. The company moved to Indianapolis in 1892 to take advantage of lower freight cost. The mill paid high prices to Indiana farmers for white corn and by 1898 processed 12,000 bushels daily. As a wave of mergers swept U.S. industry at the turn of the twentieth century, Cerealine joined nine Midwestern mills in 1902 to form American Hominy Co., which continued business into the 1920s.