History & Origin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Early Evolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Global Expansion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Modern Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Company Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9Recent Efforts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Company DNA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15Social Media Accounts . . . . . . . . . . . .16

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Founded on June 22, 1928 by James Ford Bell of Washburn Crosby Washburn Crosby, Sperry Flour Company, Kell Group of Mills, and

Larrowe Milling Company had been its original component parts. The growing scale of retailers and consumers’ bargaining for lower

prices, were some of the issues that Bell anticipated. Bell proposed a full-blown merger of like-minded millers across the

country, to address the issues. One of his ideas was to build a new a company with a newly true

way of operating that led him to purchase selected mills. After six months since the company’s formation, it added mills in

Wichita Falls, Amarilo, Vernon, Waco, and El Reno. Before long, General Mills had 27 associated operating companies

in sixteen states. The company become the largest miller in the world.

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Back in 1880, Washburn Crosby won gold, silver and bronze medal in the first International Miller’s Exhibition in Cincinnati, with the winning flour re-christened Gold Medal flour.

Gold Medal flour and Wheaties cereal were the brands that the company originally possessed.

53,000 cases of Wheaties sold in 1929, it had turned to 4.5M in just a span of ten years, becoming the best-selling cereal in the country

Betty Crocker brand was born as a response to consumers’ overflowing questions about cooking tips and recipes

In 1924, Washburn’s infatuation with radio resulted in a half-hour cooking show, The Betty Crocker Cooking School of the Air, which by 1926 was on NBC

The 13 Betty Crockers gave live cooking demonstrations across the country

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By 1930, the company produced the first Betty Crocker cookbook. By 1945, Betty Crocker was the second most-popular woman in

America, after Eleanor Roosevelt Cheerioats was launched in 1941 with a tagline “He’s Feeling His

Cheerioats”, that eventually renamed as Cheerios From the role of providing demand for its flourmills, General Mills

has turned into an effective packaged goods company with some of the best brand names in America and abroad.

In 1953, it marked its first set up abroad through a Canadian subsidiary

Nestle and General Mills became joint partners in Cereal Partners Worldwide (CPW) in 1990

It started operating in the UK and southern Europe on June 1, 1990 In 1991, Nesquik brand was added It partnered with PepsiCo to setup nack Ventures Europe in 1992 5

They take they’re first step with a Canadian subsidiary. It then followed by purchasing UK’s Smith’s Crisps. Succeedingly, a joint partner in Cereal Partners Worldwide (CPW)

with Nestlé came in 1990 The acquisition of Pillsbury in 2001, transformed General Mill’s

international presence By 2004, it had become the Continental Europe’s leading snack

company, with sales close to $1billion, which led PepsiCo to buy General Mill’s share

In 2008, its venture with Nestle had become massive with $3billion sales in more than 130 countries, on the back of more than 50 brands, produced in 14 factories

In 2012, total sales rose to $4.2billion, and it continued to dominate international market.

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In the beginning of 1940s, General Mills’ Cheerios became the best-selling breakfast cereal in America. Betty Crocker, now in her eighth pictorial, likeness has her image on dozens of easy recipe products and even Gold Medal is still around

Launching of Mechanical division in 1940 signaled wider diversification

The post-war consumer boom accelerated the brand success By 1953, it was generating nearly five times the entire 1930

company profits On the same year, it launched Trix, pre-sweetened cereal Edwin W. Rawlings, a new president was appointed in 1962 It acquired Morton Foods in 1964, and launched Lucky Charm

cereal In 1996, it bought Tom Houston Peanut Company, and introduced

Bugles 7

It purchased Rainbow Crafts, Parker Bros., and Kenner in 1968 Lacoste and Monet Jewellery were acquired in 1969 Acquired Eddie Bauer sportswear and Red Lobster food chain in the

following years Sales in 1976 reached $2.6 billion In 1977, purchased the US rights to a European yoghurt brand

Yoplait By 1993, sales reached $8 billion In 1995, the restaurants division was spun off as Darden

Restaurants Inc., and General Mills to its fons et origo: a packaged goods company.

It bought Ralcorp Holdings Inc. in 1996, the company’s largest acquisition yet

Go-GURT, Lloyd’s Barbeque Company, Farmhouse Foods, Gardetto’s Bakery and Small Planet Foods were purchased on the following years

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General Mills has been through four distinct phases: a holding company for flour millers, a milling company with a centralized packaged goods component, an industrial conglomerate and finally, after the Pillsbury acquisition, a packaged goods company

It has two divisions namely Grocery Products and Flour and Feed By 1953, Flour and Feed was split, making three more key divisions

along with Grocery Products The Chemical division marked the shift of General Mills into non-

foods Following the sale of the Chemicals division in 1997, Food

Processing, Restaurants, Games and Toys, Fashion and Specialty Retailing all hung out in the same corporate bar

Today, the company has three divisions namely US Retail, International and Bakeries, and Foodservice

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US Retail (63% of total company) has seven segments:1. Big G (the breakfast cereals) - $2.4 billion2. Baking Products - $1.8 billion3. Frozen Foods - $1.6 billion4. Snacks - $1.6 billion5. Meals - $1.5 billion6. Yoplait (America’s leading brand of yoghurt) - $1.4 billion7. Small Planet Foods and other - $0.2 billion

International division has four segments:1. Europe - $2 billion (almost double the pre-Yoplait purchase

level)2. Canada - $1 billion3. Asia-Pacific - $0.8 billion4. Latin America - $0.4 billion

Bakeries and Foodservice also includes Convenience Stores 10

2004 General Mills emerged as an $11 billion turnover business in 2004,

due to Pillsbury acquisition

2005 PepsiCo bought General Mills’ 40.5% stake

2006 The company had 30 plants and 9,000 employees generating

almost $2 billion in non-US sales Nature Valley bars were launched in Europe and India Wanchai Ferry appeared in European France Cereal Partners Worldwide bought Australia’s Uncle Toby’s brand

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2007 Cascadian Farm organic cereals acquisition was successful

2008 Sales increased by 10% Every division in the company grew by at least 5% Nature Valley bars were sold in 54 countries Wanchai Ferry dumplings grew by another 30% in China

2009 Acquired Larabar, a range of energy bars made with unprocessed

ingredients Haagen Dazs, Old El Paso, Wanchai Ferry and Nature Valley were

more well-established12

2010 Digital initiatives on recipe websites such as Tablespoon.com Co-branding venture with Good Earth brand Launch Yoplait Greek style yoghurt and Chocolate Cheerios

2011 Acquired 51% controlling interest in Yoplait brand from Sodiaal, and

50% in the company that managed Yoplait’s franchise businesses

2012 Laucnh Peanut Butter Multi-Grain Cheerios and Fibre One 80

Calories Acquisition of Parampara Foods in India Yoplait increased sales by 63% primarily in Europe, generating

$1.8B Wanchai Ferry continue to grow by double digits Haagen Dazs made available in over 80 countries

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General Mills is in the business of meals and snacks, particularly the ready-to-eat cereals.

It has been working on convenience meals since the launch of Hamburger Helper, more than 40 years ago

Developing brand extensions was the company’s forte, as it adapted to health and wellness trend

General Mills has been an excellent brand custodian Gold Medal flour, Bisquick, Betty Crocker, and Cheerios have

maintained their relevance in the market Betty Crocker now has an iPad app with 50,000 test recipes a year Cheerios is America’s best-selling cereal Wanchai Ferry and Haagen Dazs are both performing well abroad

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General Mills has been one of America’s success stories It can be considered as North American powerhouse with over $10

billion sales in US, $1 billion in Canada, and $2 billion in Foodservice and Bakeries

Though it’s hard to see the company’s growth in North America, the acquisition of Yoplait can be an opportunity for the much needed global expansion

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