General Mills, Inc., is an American
multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...
at
Saint Anthony Falls
Saint Anthony Falls, or the Falls of Saint Anthony ( dak, italics=no, Owámniyomni, ) located at the northeastern edge of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, is the only natural major waterfall on the Mississippi River. Throughout the mid-to-late 1 ...
in
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
, the company originally gained fame for being a large
flour miller
A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents ...
. Today, the company markets many well-known North American brands, including Gold Medal flour,
Annie's Homegrown
Annie's Homegrown (or simply Annie's) is an American organic food company owned by General Mills. The company was founded in Hampton, Connecticut by Annie Withey and Andrew Martin, who had previously founded Smartfood popcorn along with Ken Meyer ...
,
Lärabar
Lärabar is a brand of energy bars produced by General Mills. The bars come in a variety of flavors such as Apple Pie, Carrot Cake, Cinnamon Roll, and Mint Chip Brownie.
History
Lärabar was created by Denver native Lara Merriken, who was lookin ...
, Cascadian Farm,
Betty Crocker,
Yoplait
Yoplait ( , ) is the world's largest franchise brand of yogurt. It is jointly owned by American food conglomerate General Mills and French dairy cooperative Sodiaal.
History
In 1964, 100,000 French farmers agreed to merge six regional dairy coo ...
,
Nature Valley
Nature Valley is an American brand of bars, snacks and granola owned by General Mills.
They produce a variety of granola bars, cereals and related snacks. Common bars include: 'Oats and Honey', 'Fruit and Nut', and 'Peanut'. Their selection incl ...
,
Totino's
Totino's and Jeno's are brands of frozen pizza products owned by General Mills.
History
Rose Totino and her husband, Jim, founded a take-out pizzeria in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1951. They later expanded it to a full-service restaurant, wh ...
,
Pillsbury,
Old El Paso,
Häagen-Dazs
Häagen-Dazs ( , ) is an American ice cream brand, established by Reuben and Rose Mattus in The Bronx, New York, in 1960. Starting with only three flavors: vanilla, chocolate, and coffee, the company opened its first retail store in Brooklyn, Ne ...
, as well as
breakfast cereals
Cereal, formally termed breakfast cereal (and further categorized as cold cereal or warm cereal), is a traditional breakfast food made from processed cereal grains. It is traditionally eaten as part of breakfast, or a snack food, primarily in We ...
under the General Mills name, including
Cheerios
Cheerios is a brand of cereal manufactured by General Mills in the United States, consisting of pulverized oats in the shape of a solid torus. In some countries, including the United Kingdom, Cheerios is marketed by Cereal Partners under the ...
,
Chex
Chex is an American brand of breakfast cereal currently manufactured by General Mills. It was originally produced and owned by Ralston Purina of St. Louis, Missouri, using the name Chex starting in 1950. The Chex brand went with corporate s ...
,
Lucky Charms
Lucky Charms is a brand of breakfast cereal produced by General Mills since 1964. The cereal consists of multi-colored marshmallows and pieces of shaped pulverized oat, each resembling one of several objects or symbols associated with good lu ...
,
Trix,
Cocoa Puffs
Cocoa Puffs is an American brand of chocolate-flavored puffed grain breakfast cereal, manufactured by General Mills. Introduced in 1956, the cereal consists of small orbs of corn and rice flavored with cocoa. Cocoa Puffs have the same shape as ...
and Count Chocula and the other
monster cereals.
It is headquartered in
Golden Valley, Minnesota
Golden Valley is a western and first-ring suburb of Minneapolis in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The city is mostly residential and is bordered by U.S. Highway 12 (Interstate 394). Over 15% of the city is parks or nature reserves. ...
, a suburb of
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
.
History
Washburn-Crosby Company
The company can trace its history to the Minneapolis Milling Company, incorporated in 1856. The company was founded by Illinois Congressman Robert Smith, who leased power rights to flour mills operating along the west side of Saint Anthony Falls on the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...
in
Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Cadwallader C. Washburn
Cadwallader Colden Washburn (April 22, 1818May 14, 1882) was an American businessman, politician, and soldier who founded a mill that later became General Mills. A member of the Washburn family of Maine, he was a U.S. Congressman and governor o ...
acquired the company shortly after its founding and hired his brother
William D. Washburn to assist in the company's development. In 1866 the Washburns got into the business themselves, building the Washburn "B" Mill at the falls. At the time, the building was considered to be so large and output so vast that it could not possibly sustain itself. However, the company succeeded, and in 1874 he built the even bigger
Washburn "A" Mill.
In 1877, the mill entered a partnership with
John Crosby to form the Washburn-Crosby Company, producing
winter wheat
Winter wheat (usually '' Triticum aestivum'') are strains of wheat that are planted in the autumn to germinate and develop into young plants that remain in the vegetative phase during the winter and resume growth in early spring. Classificatio ...
Flour. That same year Washburn sent
William Hood Dunwoody
William Hood Dunwoody (March 14, 1841 – February 8, 1914) was an American banker, miller, art patron and philanthropist. He was a partner in what is today General Mills and for thirty years a leader of Northwestern National Bank, today's Wells Fa ...
to England to open the market for spring wheat. Dunwoody was successful and became a silent partner.
In 1878, the "A" mill was destroyed in a flour
dust explosion
A dust explosion is the rapid combustion of fine particles suspended in the air within an enclosed location. Dust explosions can occur where any dispersed powdered combustible material is present in high-enough concentrations in the atmosphere o ...
along with five nearby buildings, an event known as the
Great Mill Disaster. The ensuing fire led to the death of 18 workers.
Construction of a new mill began immediately. Not only was the new mill safer but it also was able to produce a higher quality flour after the old grinding stones were replaced with automatic steel rollers, the first ever used.
In 1880, Washburn-Crosby flour brands won gold, silver and bronze medals at the Millers' International Exhibition in
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, causing them to launch the Gold Medal flour brand.
In 1924, the company acquired a failing
Twin Cities
Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in sta ...
radio station,
WLAG
WLAG (1240 AM, "Eagle Sports 1240 & 96.9") is a radio station broadcasting a sports format featuring programming from ESPN Radio. WLAG is licensed to serve the community of La Grange, Georgia, United States. The station is currently owned by Ea ...
, renaming it
WCCO (from Washburn-Crosby Company).
Founding
General Mills itself was created on June 20, 1928
when Washburn-Crosby President
James Ford Bell
James Ford Bell as a member of the Food Administration in 1918.
James Ford Bell (August 16, 1879 – May 7, 1961) was an American business leader and philanthropist who served as president of General Mills from 1928 to 1934 and chairman from 1934 ...
merged Washburn-Crosby with three other mills.
[Staff report (May 8, 1961)]
James Bell Ford of General Mills; Founder of Concern Is Dead at 81 -- Was Philanthropist
''New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' In the same year, General Mills acquired the Wichita Mill and Elevator Company of the industrialist
Frank Kell
Frank or Franks may refer to:
People
* Frank (given name)
* Frank (surname)
* Franks (surname)
* Franks, a medieval Germanic people
* Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang
Cur ...
of
Wichita Falls
Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the seat of government of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita counties. According ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
. With the sale, Kell acquired cash plus stock in the corporation.
![Washburn Crosby](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Washburn_Crosby.jpg)
Shares of the new company's stock were first sold on the New York Stock Exchange on November 30, 1928, at $65 per share. The newly merged company paid a
dividend
A dividend is a distribution of profits by a corporation to its shareholders. When a corporation earns a profit or surplus, it is able to pay a portion of the profit as a dividend to shareholders. Any amount not distributed is taken to be re-i ...
in 1928, and has continued the dividend uninterrupted ever since – one of only a few companies to pay a dividend every year since its founding.
[
]
Engineering milestones
* 1930s: General Mills engineer, Thomas R. James, creates the puffing gun, which inflates or distorts cereal pieces into puffed-up shapes. This new technology was used in 1937 to create Kix cereal and in 1941 to create Cheerioats (known today as Cheerios).
* 1939: General Mills engineer Helmer Anderson creates the Anderson sealer. This new device allowed for bags of flour to be sealed with glue instead of just being tied with a string.
* 1956: General Mills creates the tear-strip for easily opening packages.
Aeronautical Research Division and Electronics Division
In 1946, General Mills established their Aeronautical Research Division with chief engineer Otto C. Winzen. This division developed high altitude balloons in conjunction with the United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
Office of Naval Research (ONR), such as the Skyhook balloon
Skyhook balloons were high-altitude balloons developed by Otto C. Winzen and General Mills, Inc. They were used by the United States Navy Office of Naval Research (ONR) in the late 1940s and 1950s for atmospheric research, especially for const ...
.
The Aeronautical work of General Mills done around the time of the second World War is continued by the company Raven Industries in their Raven Aerostar department.
The General Mills Electronics division developed the DSV ''Alvin'' submersible, which is notable for being used in investigating the wreck of ''Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...
'' among other deep-sea exploration missions.
Merchandising and television
Beginning in 1929, General Mills products contained box top coupons, known as Betty Crocker coupons, with varying point values, which were redeemable for discounts on a variety of housewares products featured in the widely distributed Betty Crocker catalog. The coupons and the catalog were discontinued by the company in 2006.
General Mills became the sponsor of the popular radio show ''The Lone Ranger
The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture.
He first appeared in 1933 in ...
'' in 1941. The show was then brought to television, and, after 20 years, their sponsorship came to an end in 1961.
Beginning in 1959, General Mills sponsored the ''Rocky and His Friends
''The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends'' (commonly referred to as simply ''Rocky and Bullwinkle'') is an American animated television series that originally aired from November 19, 1959, to June 27, 1964, on the ABC and NBC tele ...
'' television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...
, later known as '' The Bullwinkle Show''. Until 1968, Rocky and Bullwinkle were featured in a variety of advertisements for General Mills. General Mills was also a sponsor of the Saturday-morning cartoons from the Total Television
Total Television was an American animation studio founded in 1959 by Buck Biggers, Chester "Chet" Stover,p.478 Erickson,Hal ''Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 through 2003'' McFarland & Co., 2005 Joe Harris, and Trea ...
productions studio, including Tennessee Tuxedo
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
. The company also was a sponsor of the ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
series ''The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp
''The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp'' is the first Western television series written for adults, premiering four days before '' Gunsmoke'' on September 6, 1955. Two weeks later came the Clint Walker western ''Cheyenne''. The series is loosely ...
'', starring Hugh O'Brian
Hugh O'Brian (born Hugh Charles Krampe; April 19, 1925 – September 5, 2016) was an American actor and humanitarian, best known for his starring roles in the ABC Western television series ''The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp'' (1955–1 ...
. The company, along with its subsidiary The Program Exchange
The Program Exchange was a syndicator of television programs. It was founded as DFS Program Exchange in 1978, which became elongated to the DFS-Dorland Program Exchange from 1986 to 1987. From 1986 to 2008, it was a division of Saatchi & Saatchi ...
, backed DiC Entertainment
DIC Entertainment Corporation (; also known as DIC Audiovisuel, DIC Enterprises, DIC Animation City, DIC Entertainment, L.P., and DIC Productions), branded as The Incredible World of DIC, was an international film and television production com ...
in syndicating the '' Dennis the Menace'' animated series based on the comic strip of the same name created by Hank Ketcham
Henry King Ketcham (March 14, 1920 – June 1, 2001) was an American cartoonist who created the '' Dennis the Menace'' comic strip, writing and drawing it from 1951 to 1994, when he retired from drawing the daily cartoon and took up painting ...
in 1986. From 1997 until May 31, 2004, General Mills sponsored and syndicated the first 82 episodes of the original '' Sailor Moon'' English dub (the remaining 17 of 82 episodes premiered on Cartoon Network's programming block Toonami
Toonami ( ) is an American late night television programming block that primarily broadcasts Japanese animation and occasionally American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and produced by Williams Street, a divis ...
in 1998).
Diversification: toys and restaurants
The first venture General Mills took into the toy industry was in 1965. The company bought Rainbow Crafts
Rainbow Crafts, Inc. (traded as Rainbow Crafts) is a former toy manufacturing company created and operated by Noah McVicker and his nephew Joseph McVicker as a subsidiary of the midwestern soap company, Kutol Products.Walsh, Tim. ''Timeless Toys: ...
, which was the manufacturer of Play-Doh
Play-Doh is a modeling compound for young children to make arts and crafts projects at home. The product was first manufactured in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, as a wallpaper cleaner in the 1930s. Play-Doh was then reworked and marketed to Ci ...
. General Mills' purchase of the company was significant because it brought production costs down and tripled the revenue.
In 1967, General Mills bought the Kenner
Kenner Products, known simply as Kenner, was an American toy company founded in 1946. Throughout its history, the Kenner brand produced several highly recognizable toys and merchandise lines including action figures like the original series of ' ...
toy company.
General Mills came out with their "Monster Cereals" in the 1970s. The cereals are now produced and sold seasonally around Halloween.
In 1970, General Mills acquired a five-unit restaurant company called Red Lobster
Red Lobster Hospitality LLC is an American casual dining restaurant chain headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company has operations across most of the United States (including Puerto Rico, Guam) and Canada, as well as in China, Ecuador, Ho ...
and expanded it nationwide. Soon, a division of General Mills titled General Mills Restaurants developed to take charge of the Red Lobster chain. In 1980, General Mills acquired the California-based Good Earth health food restaurant chain. The company eventually converted the restaurants into other chain restaurants they were operating, such as Red Lobster. In 1982, General Mills Restaurants founded a new Italian-themed restaurant chain called Olive Garden. Another themed restaurant, China Coast
China Coast was a casual dining American restaurant chain owned by Darden Restaurants Inc., specializing in American Chinese cuisine.
Founded in 1990 in Orlando, Florida, China Coast was intended to join Olive Garden and Red Lobster as Darden's ...
, was added before the entire group was spun off to General Mills shareholders in 1995 as Darden Restaurants
Darden Restaurants, Inc. is an American multi-brand restaurant operator headquartered in Orlando. As of January 2022, the firm owns two fine dining restaurant chains: Eddie V's and The Capital Grille; and six casual dining restaurant chains: O ...
.
During the same decade, General Mills ventured further, starting the General Mills Specialty Retail Group. They acquired two clothing and apparel companies, Talbots
The Talbots, Inc. (doing business as Talbots and stylized as TALBOTS) is an American specialty retailer and direct marketer of women's clothing, shoes and fashion accessories.
As of 2018, the company operated 495 Talbots stores in the United S ...
and Eddie Bauer
Eddie Bauer, LLC is an American clothing store chain headquartered in Seattle, Seattle, Washington. Eddie Bauer sells its merchandise via retail stores, outlet stores, and online and via phone, with a call center in Groveport, Ohio. Its flagship ...
. The acquisition was short-lived. Talbots was purchased by a Japanese company, then known as JUSCO
is the acronym for Japan United Stores Company, a chain of "general merchandise stores" (or hypermarket) and the largest of its type in Japan.
The various JUSCO companies are subsidiaries of the ÆON supermarket chain.
The JUSCO name was adopte ...
, and the Spiegel company purchased Bauer. Spiegel later declared bankruptcy, yet Bauer still remains, albeit in a smaller presence in the United States today.
From 1976 to 1985, General Mills went to court as the parent company of Parker Brothers
Parker Brothers (known by Parker outside of North America) was an American toy and game manufacturer which in 1991 became a brand of Hasbro. More than 1,800 games were published under the Parker Brothers name since 1883. Among its products wer ...
, which held the rights on the brand name and gaming idea of the board game ''Monopoly
A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...
'', claiming that the so-called Anti-Monopoly game of an economics professor infringed their trademark. The dispute extended up to the U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
, which ruled against them, saying that while they have exclusive rights to the game ''Monopoly'', they cannot prevent others from using the word "monopoly
A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...
" in the name of a game.
In 1985, General Mills' toy division was separated from its parent as Kenner Parker Toys, Inc. There were many potential acquirers of the business but it was floated on the stock exchange with General Mills' shareholders getting equivalent shares in Kenner Parker. This was more tax efficient for General Mills.
Recent history
In 1990, a joint venture with Nestlé S.A. called Cereal Partners was formed which markets cereals (including many existing General Mills cereal brands) outside the US and Canada under the Nestlé name.
In 2001, the company purchased Pillsbury (sans Burger King) from Diageo, although it was officially described as a "merger".
Since 2004, General Mills has been producing more products targeted to the growing ranks of health-conscious consumers. The company has chosen to switch its entire breakfast cereal line to whole grain
A whole grain is a grain of any cereal and pseudocereal that contains the endosperm, germ, and bran, in contrast to refined grains, which retain only the endosperm.
As part of a general healthy diet, consumption of whole grains is associated ...
. The company also started manufacturing their child-targeted cereals with less sugar. General Mills has reduced the level of sugar in all cereals advertised to children to 11 grams per serving.
In April 2011, General Mills announced that it will switch all 1 million eggs it uses each year to cage-free.
General Mills was ranked #181 on the 2012 Fortune 500 list of America's largest corporations, 161 in 2015 and was the third-largest food consumer products company in the United States. During June 2012, the company's vice-president for diversity stated that General Mills opposes a Minnesota amendment banning gay marriage, stating that the company values "inclusion". The company received positive feedback for its stand which might attract people to its global workforce.
The company announced in September 2014 that it would acquire organic food producer Annie's Inc. for a fee of around $820 million, as part of its strategy to expand in the US natural foods market. In October 2014, General Mills announced plans to cut 700 to 800 jobs, mostly in U.S., in corporate restructuring planned to be completed by the end of 2015.
In 2015, citing climate change, General Mills promised to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 28 percent over 10 years. In December 2016, the company announced it would be restructuring, splitting into four business groups based on global region, and cutting as many as 600 jobs.
In February 2018, the company entered into the pet products industry, paying $8 billion to buy Blue Buffalo Pet Products, Inc. As of 2018, the company ranked 182nd on the Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by revenue.
Having launched its first regenerative agriculture
Regenerative agriculture is a conservation and rehabilitation approach to food and farming systems. It focuses on topsoil regeneration, increasing biodiversity, improving the water cycle, enhancing ecosystem services, supporting biosequestration, ...
pilot program in March 2019, the company has plans to improve soil health
Soil health is a state of a soil meeting its range of ecosystem functions as appropriate to its environment. In more colloquial terms, the health of soil arises from favorable interactions of all soil components (living and non-living) that belong ...
on 1 million acres of farmland by 2030.
In February 2020, General Mills was recognized by CDP as a global leader in corporate sustainability and received a place on the CDP "A List" for both climate change and water security
Water security is the focused goal of water policy and water management. A society with a high level of water security makes the most of water's benefits for humans and ecosystems and limits the risk of destructive impacts associated with water. T ...
.
On May 15, 2021, General Mills announced that it was acquiring Tyson Foods
Tyson Foods, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, based in Springdale, Arkansas, that operates in the food industry. The company is the world's second-largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork after JBS S.A. It annually ...
' pet treat business, including True Chews, Nudges and Top Chews, for $1.2 billion. The acquisition was completed on July 7, 2021.
In April of 2022, there were increasing news reports and complaints that the company's Lucky Charms cereal was somehow making individuals ill, with the most common complaints being gastrointestinal in nature, such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. The episodes have not yet resulted in a company- or FDA-initiated recall; an FDA spokesperson said they were investigating approximately 100 reports. These reports came as Norovirus was circulating in some areas of the U.S. It is relatively rare for cereals, as opposed to other foods, to be contaminated by microbes, because they must be baked, although it is possible if conditions are unsanitary.
On May 12, 2022, General Mills announced that it was acquiring TNT Crust, a supplier of frozen pizza crusts, from Peak Rock Capital.
On May 25, 2022, General Mills announced that it was selling its Hamburger Helper
Hamburger Helper is a packaged food product from Eagle Foods. As boxed, it consists of a dried carbohydrate (often pasta or rice), with powdered seasonings contained in a packet. The consumer is meant to combine the contents of the box with brow ...
and Suddenly Salad businesses to Eagle Family Foods Group for $610 million. This sale is expected to close later this year. The sale closed on July 5, 2022.
Criticism
Change to legal terms
In April 2014, the company announced that it had changed its legal terms
The legal year, in English law as well as in other common law jurisdictions, is the calendar during which the judges sit in court. It is traditionally divided into periods called "terms".
Asia
Hong Kong
Hong Kong's legal year is marked as Cerem ...
on its website to introduce an arbitration clause
An arbitration clause is a clause in a contract that requires the parties to resolve their disputes through an arbitration process. Although such a clause may or may not specify that arbitration occur within a specific jurisdiction, it always bind ...
requiring all disputes with General Mills to be resolved in small claims court
Small-claims courts have limited jurisdiction to hear civil cases between private litigants. Courts authorized to try small claims may also have other judicial functions, and go by different names in different jurisdictions. For example, it may ...
or arbitration and not as a participant in a class action
A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class actio ...
. The change was made shortly after a judge's March 26, 2014, denial of a motion to dismiss a class action regarding the marketing of the company's Nature Valley brand products. Users would be deemed to accept the terms by interacting with General Mills on its website in various ways, such as downloading coupons, subscribing to newsletters, or participating in Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are often longer than one line of text, and are at least temporar ...
s hosted on the website. ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' stated that the agreement could be interpreted to additionally construe purchasing General Mills products at a grocery store or liking the company's Facebook page as assent to the terms; General Mills disclaimed that interpretation, calling it a "mischaracterization". The change in terms resulted in a massive backlash of protests via consumer groups and social media, and General Mills reverted the terms back to the original content after only a few days.
Involvement in Israeli settlements
On 12 February 2020, the United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
published a database
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases s ...
of companies doing business related in the West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
, including East Jerusalem, as well as in the occupied Golan Heights
The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between di ...
. General Mills was listed on the database on account of the activities of its subsidiary General Mills Israel in Israeli settlements
Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli se ...
in these occupied territories, which are considered illegal under international law.
Brands
Breakfast cereals
General Mills's breakfast cereals include:
* Basic 4
* Boo-Berry
* Cascadian Farm
* Cheerios
Cheerios is a brand of cereal manufactured by General Mills in the United States, consisting of pulverized oats in the shape of a solid torus. In some countries, including the United Kingdom, Cheerios is marketed by Cereal Partners under the ...
and its variants
* Chex
Chex is an American brand of breakfast cereal currently manufactured by General Mills. It was originally produced and owned by Ralston Purina of St. Louis, Missouri, using the name Chex starting in 1950. The Chex brand went with corporate s ...
and its variants
* Cinnamon Toast Crunch
* Cocoa Puffs
Cocoa Puffs is an American brand of chocolate-flavored puffed grain breakfast cereal, manufactured by General Mills. Introduced in 1956, the cereal consists of small orbs of corn and rice flavored with cocoa. Cocoa Puffs have the same shape as ...
* Cookie Crisp
* Count Chocula
* Fiber One / Fibre One
* Franken-Berry
* French Toast Crunch
* Gold Flakes
* Golden Grahams
* Honey Nut Clusters
* Kix
* Lucky Charms
Lucky Charms is a brand of breakfast cereal produced by General Mills since 1964. The cereal consists of multi-colored marshmallows and pieces of shaped pulverized oat, each resembling one of several objects or symbols associated with good lu ...
* Morning Summit
* Nesquik
* Oatmeal Crisp
Oatmeal Crisp is a breakfast cereal from General Mills
General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi Riv ...
* Raisin Nut Bran
* Reese's Puffs
Reese's Puffs (formerly Reese's Peanut Butter Puffs) is a corn-based breakfast cereal manufactured by General Mills inspired by Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. At its launch in May 1994 the cereal consisted of corn puffs flavored with chocolate and ...
* Total
* Trix
* Wheaties
Wheaties is an American brand of breakfast cereal that is made by General Mills. It is well known for featuring prominent athletes on its packages and has become a cultural icon in the United States. Originally introduced as Washburn's Gold Meda ...
Some brands are marketed outside the US and Canada by the Cereal Partners joint venture using the Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since ...
brand.
Discontinued cereals
General Mills cereals no longer manufactured include:
* Banana Wackies / Wackies (introduced 1965; discontinued 1968)
* Baron von Redberry and Sir Grapefellow (introduced 1972, discontinued 1975)
* Benefit (which contained psyllium
Psyllium , or ispaghula , is the common name used for several members of the plant genus '' Plantago'' whose seeds are used commercially for the production of mucilage. Psyllium is mainly used as a dietary fiber to relieve symptoms of both const ...
, an Indian-grown grain used as a laxative and cholesterol-reducer)
* Body Buddies (introduced 1979; two flavors, Brown Sugar & Honey and Natural Fruit Flavor)
* Buc Wheats
* Buñuelitos ("Sweetened corn puffs with cinnamon and a touch of honey... Traditional south of the border flavor made right here in the U.S.A.")
* Chocolate Flavor Donutz (introduced 1982; discontinued 1984)
* Circus Fun (introduced 1986; discontinued 1989)
* Clackers
Clackers (also known as Clankers, Ker-Bangers, and numerous other names) were toys popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
In 1968, tempered glass sphere models emerged that would eventually shatter, sending glass shards into the face of the ...
(introduced 1968; discontinued 1973) - graham cracker-flavored
* Clusters (introduced 1987)
* Country Corn Flakes (introduced 1961)
* Crazy Cow - A chocolate corn cereal which resembles cocoa puffs (introduced 1978, discontinued, 1980)
* Crispy Wheats 'n Raisins (introduced 1980)
* E.T.
''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (or simply ''E.T.'') is a 1982 American science fiction film produced and directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Melissa Mathison. It tells the story of Elliott, a boy who befriends an extraterrestrial, dub ...
Cereal (introduced 1984, discontinued 1986)
* Fingos ("The Cereal Made to Eat with Your Fingers")
* Frosty O's (introduced 1959; discontinued 1979)
* Fruit Brute (introduced 1974; discontinued 1982)
* Fruity Yummy Mummy
* Goodness Pack, an assortment of eight single-serving boxes of different cereals, designed to compete with Kellogg's and Post Cereals
Post Consumer Brands (previously Post Cereals and Postum Cereals; also known as simply "Post") is an American breakfast cereal manufacturer headquartered in Lakeville, Minnesota.
The company, founded in 1895 by C. W. Post, owns a large portfoli ...
assortments
* Harmony
* Hi-Pro (introduced 1958; discontinued 1964)
* Hidden Treasures
* Ice Cream Cones (vanilla, chocolate, chocolate chip flavors; introduced 1987, discontinued same year; briefly reintroduced in 2003)
* Jets (formerly Sugar Jets; discontinued 1974)
* Jurassic Park Crunch
* Kaboom (introduced 1969)
* Millenios from Cheerios
* Mr. Wonderful's Surprise ("Only Cereal with a Creamy Chocolate Filling")
* Monopoly
A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...
Cereal
* Neopets Islandberry Crunch (based on the Neopets
''Neopets'' is a virtual pet website. Users can own virtual pets ("Neopets") and buy virtual items for them using one of two virtual currencies. One currency, called Neopoints, can be earned within the site, and the other, Neocash, can eithe ...
online virtual pet community)
* Pac-Man Cereal
* Peanut Butter Toast Crunch
* Powdered Donutz (introduced 1981; discontinued 1984)
* Princess Fairytale Flakes
* Ripple Crisp
* Rocky Road
* S'Mores Grahams / S'Mores Crunch
* Sprinkle Spangles
* Star Wars Episode II (based on the 2002 film ''Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones'')
* Strawberry Shortcake
* Sugar Jets (introduced 1954)
* Sunrise Organic
* Triples (cereal), Triples (introduced 1991)
* Twinkles (introduced 1960; discontinued 1973)
* USA Olympic Crunch (a tie-in with the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Nagano, Nagano, Japan)
* Wheat Hearts
* Wheaties Dunk-a-Balls
* Wheat Stax (introduced 1966; discontinued 1971) ("Now there's a cereal you can stack")
Baking goods
The company's baking-goods brands include:
* Betty Crocker
* Bisquick (now a Betty Crocker brand)
* Gold Medal Flour
* Jus-Rol
* Knack & Back
* La Salteña
* Pillsbury
* V. Pearl
It also produces fruit snacks, including Fruit by the Foot, Fruit Gushers, Fruit Roll-Ups, and Fruit Shapes.
Grain snacks
The company's grain-snack brands include:
* Bugles (snack), Bugles
* Cascadian Farms
* Chex Mix
* Gardetto's
* Nature Valley
Nature Valley is an American brand of bars, snacks and granola owned by General Mills.
They produce a variety of granola bars, cereals and related snacks. Common bars include: 'Oats and Honey', 'Fruit and Nut', and 'Peanut'. Their selection incl ...
* Fiber One / Fibre One bars
Meal products
The company's meal products brands include:
* Betty Crocker
* William Underwood Company, Diablitos Underwood
* Hamburger Helper
Hamburger Helper is a packaged food product from Eagle Foods. As boxed, it consists of a dried carbohydrate (often pasta or rice), with powdered seasonings contained in a packet. The consumer is meant to combine the contents of the box with brow ...
* Old El Paso
* Wanchai Ferry (brand), Wanchai Ferry
Organic food
It also produces organic foods, via Cascadian Farm, which they took over when they bought Small Planet Foods, and Muir Glen. More recently, as of 2014, it has purchased Annie's Homegrown
Annie's Homegrown (or simply Annie's) is an American organic food company owned by General Mills. The company was founded in Hampton, Connecticut by Annie Withey and Andrew Martin, who had previously founded Smartfood popcorn along with Ken Meyer ...
.
Other brands
Other company brands include Annie's, Blue Buffalo, Frescarini, Latina, Totino's
Totino's and Jeno's are brands of frozen pizza products owned by General Mills.
History
Rose Totino and her husband, Jim, founded a take-out pizzeria in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1951. They later expanded it to a full-service restaurant, wh ...
, Totino's, Jeno's, Progresso, Colombo Yogurt, Colombo, Lärabar
Lärabar is a brand of energy bars produced by General Mills. The bars come in a variety of flavors such as Apple Pie, Carrot Cake, Cinnamon Roll, and Mint Chip Brownie.
History
Lärabar was created by Denver native Lara Merriken, who was lookin ...
, and Yoplait
Yoplait ( , ) is the world's largest franchise brand of yogurt. It is jointly owned by American food conglomerate General Mills and French dairy cooperative Sodiaal.
History
In 1964, 100,000 French farmers agreed to merge six regional dairy coo ...
(51%). It also produces Häagen-Dazs
Häagen-Dazs ( , ) is an American ice cream brand, established by Reuben and Rose Mattus in The Bronx, New York, in 1960. Starting with only three flavors: vanilla, chocolate, and coffee, the company opened its first retail store in Brooklyn, Ne ...
ice cream outside of the U.S. and Canada. General Mills acquired the meat-based brand Epic Provisions in 2016.
See also
* List of food companies
* List of Minnesota companies
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
General Mills,
Food product brands
Baking mixes
Breakfast cereal companies
Dairy products companies of the United States
Snack food manufacturers of the United States
Multinational food companies
Multinational companies headquartered in the United States
Manufacturing companies based in Minnesota
Companies based in Minneapolis
Hennepin County, Minnesota
American companies established in 1856
Food and drink companies established in 1856
1856 establishments in Minnesota Territory
Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Former components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average
Yogurt companies