General Mills

General Mills is a food company that manufactures and markets branded consumer foods. General Mills is a food company that manufactures and markets branded consumer foods sold through retail stores. They're one of the world's largest food companies, marketing in more than 100 countries. They categorize their sales into three core business segments: U.S. Retail, International, and Convenience Stores & Foodservice. U.S.Retail includes seven divisions that market brands such as Cheerios, Yoplait yogurt, Pillsbury refrigerated dough, and Betty Crocker baking products. Its international sales exclude their proportionate share of two joint ventures: Cereal Partners Worldwide and Häagen-Dazs Japan.

1866: 1866: Cadwallader Washburn, owner of Minneapolis Milling Company, opens the first flour mill in Minneapolis. On those river banks in 1866, a man named Cadwallader Washburn began what would become General Mills. 1866: Cadwallader Washburn built his first mill in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which would become the foundation of General Mills

1869: In 1869, they joined forces to form the Minneapolis Millers Association. His business, originally called the Minneapolis Milling Company, competed with local miller Charles A. Pillsbury, who founded the Pillsbury Flour Mills Company (forerunner of the Pillsbury Company) in 1869.

1874: However, the company succeeded, and in 1874 he built the even bigger Washburn "A" Mill.

1875: So he added a fourth "X." Trademarked in 1875, shoppers worldwide still see that logo today.

1877: In 1877, the mill entered a partnership with John Crosby to form the Washburn-Crosby Company, producing winter wheat Flour.

1878: "There is an earthquake," began the 1878 newspaper account detailing an explosion heard far as 10 miles from St Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1878 the Association was reorganized to appease farmers who found its business practices unfair. 1878: Following the explosion of the Washburn “A” Mill in Minneapolis, Washburn revolutionizes the industry with a renewed commitment to safety and quality

1880: In 1880, the Washburn Crosby Company entered several grades of its flour in the first International Millers' Exhibition in Cincinnati, Ohio. Washburn-Crosby flour brands went on to become a top-selling flour in the United States, winning the gold, silver and bronze medals for quality in 1880. In 1880, Washburn-Crosby flour brands won gold, silver and bronze medals at the Millers' International Exhibition in Cincinnati, causing them to launch the Gold Medal flour brand.

1888: In 1888, James S. Bell succeeded Washburn as head of the Washburn Crosby Company, ousting Washburn's heirs.

1900: A lifelong tinkerer, in 1900 Bell had created the first lab for testing flour while a student at the University of Minnesota.

1921: Her name first appeared on William G. Crocker baking products in 1921. 1921: Betty Crocker, the first lady of food, is created as a personality to answer letters from consumers

1924: A flour company—Washburn Crosby Co.—purchased struggling WLAG radio station in 1924, renamed it WCCO, and made history broadcasting a presidential inauguration. In 1924, Betty made her radio debut on "Betty Crocker Cooking School of the Air," a program broadcasted in Minneapolis. In 1924, the company acquired a failing Twin Cities radio station, WLAG, renaming it WCCO (from Washburn-Crosby Company).

1925: Sportsman, mechanic and Shakespeare bibliophile, "moose-tall" James Ford Bell became president of the Washburn Crosby Company in 1925. In 1925 company president James Bell began a program of consolidation with other mills.

1926: The Mechanical division of General Mills had evolved from the Washburn Crosby Company's six-person Manufacturing Service department that was founded in 1926. 1926: The Wheaties Quartet debuts what’s believed to be the first singing radio commercial

1928: General Mills itself was created in June 1928 when Washburn-Crosby President James Ford Bell merged Washburn-Crosby with three other mills. The Washburn Crosby Co. was consolidated with several other regional millers to form General Mills, Inc. in 1928, just a year after Pillsbury Flour Mills, Inc. was incorporated as a publicly-traded company. The result was General Mills, which became the world's largest miller by 1928. In 1928, General Mills acquired the Wichita Mill and Elevator Company of the industrialist Frank Kell of Wichita Falls, Texas.

1929: The department was renamed the Betty Crocker Homemaking Service in 1929 with Husted as director.

1931: Bisquick, the first baking mix, is introduced. 1931: Bisquick is developed and quickly becomes an American household pantry staple

1933: General Mills also sponsored radio programs and pioneered the use of athlete endorsements on its own radio station, WCCO. In 1933 the advertising slogan 'Wheaties. And what happened after our Wheaties – The Breakfast of Champions – began sponsoring baseball radio broadcasts in 1933 could be a movie script.

1937: Radio listeners voted Ronald “Dutch” Reagan as the country’s most popularWheaties baseball announcer in 1937, which earned him a free trip to California for a screen test.

1939: General Mills also sponsored the first televised commercial sports broadcast in 1939, partnering with Major League Baseball to present a game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers.

1941: From then, by anyone's account, fewer than 800 cars were produced until the war ended in 1945. For example, in 1941, more than 3 million cars were manufactured in the United States.

1945: In 1945, the cereal's name was changed to Cheerios, and sweet little Cheery disappeared into the cereal-character history books.

1946: Cheerioats is renamed Cheerios. In 1946, General Mills established their Aeronautical Research Division with chief engineer Otto C. Winzen.

1947: Postwar demand for consumer foods allowed the company to deemphasize industrial activity and to concentrate on the success of its cereals and Betty Crocker cake mixes--the latter having been launched in 1947.

1949: Laura Rott earned an oven at the very first Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest in 1949. HistoryPillsbury Bake-Off Contest history comes homeLaura Rott earned an oven at the very first Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest in 1949.

1950: The company continued to refine its advertising methods after World War II, and such promotions as the Betty Crocker Cookbook (first published in 1950) and advertisements on TV, an exciting new medium at the time, helped to increase sales and consumer recognition of the company.

1951: Pillsbury purchased regional dough company Ballard & Ballard of Louisville, Kentucky, in 1951.

1953: It was Ryan, a safety-minded fellow who was called "Crash" around the University of Minnesota because of his many experiments, who received a patent for the flight recorder in August 1953. 1953: The Black Box for airplanes is developed in partnership with the University of Minnesota

1954: Ready-to-eat cereals, now the company's staple, grew dramatically, and more brands were introduced, including Trix, a presweetened cereal that hit the market in 1954. Since 1954, the General Mills Foundation has fueled more than half a billion dollars in support to nonprofit organizations in our communities. General Mills, meanwhile, had expanded into Canada in 1954 with the launch of Betty Crocker and Cheerios.

1958: We've got to do something to enliven this building," said General Mills' president Charles Bell when the company opened its Golden Valley, Minnesota, headquarters in 1958.

1959: The Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) system, a seven-step preventative approach to food safety, was developed by Howard Bauman of Pillsbury in collaboration with NASA in 1959. Beginning in 1959, General Mills sponsored the Rocky and His Friends television series, later known as The Bullwinkle Show.

1961: A retired Air Force general who graduated from Hamline University in St Paul, Minnesota, Edwin W. Rawlings was named General Mills president in 1961.

1962: Consumer foods remained the main moneymaker, but General Mills' stock value dropped to $1.25 a share in 1962, its lowest point in 12 years.

1964: Snack foods entered the company's portfolio with the purchase of Morton Foods, Inc. in 1964. He and two others made the historic trip in ALVIN, a submersible built by General Mills and commissioned in 1964. The brand dated to 1964, when French farmers joined together to sell their products nationally.

1965: The Pillsbury Doughboy makes his first commercial debut The first venture General Mills took into the toy industry was in 1965.

1967: Yes, in 1967 the company known for the Pillsbury Doughboy ventured into the restaurant business. In 1967, General Mills bought the Kenner toy company.

1968: Other major acquisitions were Gorton's, a frozen fish company, and an aggressive move into the toy and game industry with Rainbow Crafts (Play-Doh), Kenner, and Parker Bros., all in 1968. The company also entered the fashion market through the purchase of Monocraft Products, maker of Monet jewelry, in 1968. Until 1968, Rocky and Bullwinkle were featured in a variety of advertisements for General Mills.

1969: Early in 1969 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a consent order blocking General Mills from further acquisitions within the snack food industry. Although Rawlings wanted another outsider to succeed him, the board of directors chose James P. McFarland in 1969. The first of many clothing company purchases was David Crystal, Inc. (Lacoste clothing) in 1969. Sales that year were actually $2.6 billion, four times the 1969 level, with earnings of more than $100 million.

1970: Meantime, Hamburger Helper was introduced in 1970. 1970: General Mills first ventured into the restaurant industry with the purchase of Red Lobster in 1970

1971: Eddie Bauer is purchased. Outdoor retailer Eddie Bauer was one store and a mail-order business when General Mills bought it in 1971. Under a partnership among Pillsbury, NASA and the United States Army Laboratories, food safety expert Howard Bauman developed the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point process in 1971. Meantime, Hamburger Helper was introduced nationally in 1971.

1972: The program was adopted by the United States Food and Drug Administration in 1972 and has since become known as the best available system for controlling and preventing food safety hazards.

1973: Talbot's is acquired.

1976: His goal was to reach $2 billion in sales by 1976.

1977: After the 1977 sale of the chemical division, General Mills divided its business into food processing, restaurants, games and toys, fashion, and specialty retailing. The food sector was bolstered in 1977 when the company purchased the United States rights to the Yoplait yogurt brand. 1977: General Mills acquired the license to produce Yoplait.

1979: The following year General Mills introduced the best-selling extension of its Cheerios line since the Honey Nut version debuted in 1979.

1980: Late in 1980, the FTC again filed a complaint against cereal companies, this time an antitrust suit following a ten-year investigation. In 1980, General Mills acquired the California-based Good Earth health food restaurant chain.

1981: The charges were dismissed in 1981 after the companies had lobbied for and won congressional favor. At the company's Buffalo, New York, facility more than $30 million has been spent on improvements since 1981.

1982: "The companies with the very best results concentrate their resources and their management in a very limited number of businesses which they know well," said Bruce Atwater, who became chair and CEO of General Mills in 1982. One result was seen in Yoplait yogurt, which achieved national distribution with French-style yogurt in 1982. General Mills opened the first Olive Garden in 1982. In 1982, General Mills Restaurants founded a new Italian-themed restaurant chain called Olive Garden.

1983: The Olive Garden Italian restaurant chain is launched. Pillsbury bought the brand in 1983. In 1983, when General Mills owned Kenner, the Care Bears, who first appeared on greeting cards, debuted as plush toys.

1985: The food division had expanded in 1985 with the introduction of Pop Secret, a microwave popcorn product. 1985: Company divests its toy, fashion, and nonapparel retailing operations; Pop Secret microwave popcorn is introduced. Ballard, an oceanographer and marine biologist with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, first spotted the ship's hull during a secret mission for the United States Navy in 1985. In 1985 the largest toymaker in the world divested items representing over 25% of its sales, including toys, fashion, and non-apparel retailing.

1986: The company, along with its subsidiary The Program Exchange, backed DiC Entertainment in syndicating the Dennis the Menace animated series based on the comic strip of the same name created by Hank Ketcham in 1986.

1987: Earnings were up to $222 million by 1987. Rawlings, Edwin W., Born to Fly, Minneapolis: Great Way Publishing, 1987.

1988: Spiegel catalog bought the business in 1988. New products for 1988 included Homestyle Pop Secret popcorn and the Stir 'n Bake dessert mixes, Italian Herb Hamburger Helper, Tuna Melt Tuna Helper, and Betty Crocker seasoned mashed potato side dishes in roasted garlic, sour cream and chives, and butter and herb flavors.

1989: Eddie Bauer and Talbot's are sold; Cereal Partners Worldwide, a joint venture with Nestlé S.A., is formed. In 1989, General Mills began to expand into international markets, a sector which archival Kellogg has been exploiting for years.

1990: 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.

1991: By 1991, the partnership was doing so well in Europe that it ventured into the Mexican market. The breakfast cereal plant had been opened in 1991 to augment cereal production until a new facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico, could be constructed.

1992: In 1992, General Mills established Snack Ventures Europe, a $600 million partnership with PepsiCo, Inc. to take advantage of the growing market for snack foods in Europe.

1993: General Mills reaped more than $8 billion in sales during 1993, with the company’s packaged goods accounting for two-thirds of its revenues and the restaurant division making up the remaining amount. In a widely publicized decision amid growing consumer complaints, during 1993 General Mills decided not to increase its cereal prices to keep pace with Kellogg. Capital improvement spending at General Mills food division totaled $208 million in 1993.

1994: In 1994 General Mills joined with CPC International to create International Dessert Partners, which expanded baking and dessert mix business to Latin America.

1995: In September 1995 General Mills launched Frosted Cheerios, a sugar-frosted version of the company's flagship cereal. In 1995 General Mills completed its transformation back into a strictly packaged foods company. 1995: The Gorton's brand is sold to Unilever; the restaurant division is spun off to shareholders as a separate public company, Darden Restaurants, Inc. In 1995 General Mills spun off its restaurants as Darden Restaurants to resume its focus on its consumer foods business.

1996: “A New Kind of Energy: Chairman, CEO of General Mills Earning Himself a Gold Medal,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, July 22, 1996, p. lD. The current Betty Crocker, the eighth such recreation, was introduced in 1996 to mark Betty's 75th birthday. Schools use the money to make purchases that support students and education. It started out in 1996 as an experiment on cereal boxes in California.

1997: Once again focused on consumer foods, the company extended its business by purchasing the Chex cereal and snack brands in 1997 from the former Ralston Purina. Snack products introduced in 1997 included Fun 'n Games Fruit Roll-Ups, Golden Grahams Treats, and Pop Secret Jumbo Pop. The company's numerous volunteer projects include a mentoring program for at-risk children, relief efforts for the victims of the record floods of 1997, and Camp Sunrise, a youth employment and camping program for urban youth. 1997 u.s. public companies, directory of corporate affiliations, vol. iii. providence, new jersey: national register publishing, 1997. moody's handbook of common stocks. ny: moodies investors service inc., 1997. In 1997, General Mills bought the rights to syndicate the first 65 episodes of the original Sailor Moon English dub. Innovation, speed, commitment, and citizenship are the key values General Mills emphasizes in its effort to create a better future for its consumers and communities. Its commitments in 1997 included grants to Ohio State University to build a General Mills Cereal Chemistry Lab, the United Negro College Fund for scholarships, Morehouse School of Medicine for physician training, and seven grants funding various educational programs.

1998: Net earnings per share for the first half of 1998 before unusual items were $1.88, an increase of 4 percent. With the addition of the newly acquired Chex and Cookie Crisp brands and the introduction of three new cereals, the company expected to renew earnings growth in 1998. The company's sponsorship of the 1998 Winter Olympics was one of the key elements of its renewed marketing efforts. 1998 american big business directory, vol. i. omaha, ne: american business directories, 1998.

1999: General Mills added to its product lines in 1999 through several modest acquisitions. Focusing on convenience foods, the company in 1999 introduced a 12-item line of Betty Crocker rice and pasta mixes, a new Chicken Helper dinner mix line, and Yoplait Go-Gurt, a line of yogurt packaged in a squeeze-and-eat tube that eliminated the need for a spoon. In 1999, for the first time in its history, General Mills passed Kellogg to claim the top spot in the United States cereal sector. By 1999 General Mills was neck-and-neck with Kellogg in the United States cereal sector, claiming 31.6 percent of United States cereal sales, to Kellogg’s 31.7 percent.

2000: In July 2000, General Mills announced the most significant event in the company's history since James Ford Bell had united several regional millers to form General Mills more than 70 years earlier. In early 2000 Sanger announced a series of long-term goals for the first decade of the 21st century. Discussion began in the spring of 2000, when 54-year-old General Mills CEO Steve Sanger had dinner with Paul Walsh, head of British multinational company Diageo. Since 2000, General Mills has been expanding its footprint in the natural and organic market with the acquisitions of such brands as Cascadian Farm, Muir Glen, Larabar, Food Should Taste Good, Immaculate Baking and Annie’s. By mid-2000 the industry had been rocked by two pending megamergers: Philip Morris Companies Inc.'s $18.9 billion deal for Nabisco Holdings Corp. (which was subsequently merged into Kraft Foods Inc.) and Unilever's $20-billion-plus takeover of Bestfoods. Despite its broad selection of cereals, Post ranked a distant third behind Kellogg and General Mills, claiming just a 16 percent market share at the beginning of 2000.

2001: The new General Mills marked its start on October 31, 2001. General Mills entered into a joint venture with E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company in 2001 to create the 8th Continent brand of soy foods and beverages. The effort was supported by print advertising that targeted mothers of children in that age group, but it seemed futile, as Post reported a 1.9 percent drop in sales in 2001 from the previous year. In 2001, the company purchased Pillsbury (sans Burger King) from Diageo, although it was officially described as a "merger".

2002: He served on the United States Department of Agriculture's National Organic Standards Board that crafted the national organic standards that began appearing on products in 2002. General Mills' profit margin fell sharply in 2002 as new product introductions were curtailed in favor of integration initiatives and competitors aggressively targeted such key company lines as prepared meals and refrigerated dough. In 2002, for example, a line of Cascadian Farm cereals was launched that quickly captured the number two position among organic cereals. To promote children's literacy, General Mills' Cheerios brand kicked off its "Spoonfuls of Stories" project in 2002.

2003: In addition, the ongoing campaign was recognized by the advertising industry, beginning in 2003 with one spot, "Breakfast in Bed," being named a Best Spot by Adweek. No specific budget for the campaign was announced, but according to a report in Advertising Age, in 2003 General Mills spent $40 million advertising the Cheerios brand overall. It was released in 2003.

2004: In July 2004, looking to prop up its profit margins, General Mills announced plans to eliminate 20 percent of its overall product line, eliminating about 400 of its smaller and less profitable items. ???????. "Kellogg Pounces on Toddlers; Tiger Power to Wrest Tot Monopoly Away from General Mills' $500M Cheerios Brand." Advertising Age, December 6, 2004. Since 2004, General Mills has been producing more products targeted to the growing ranks of health-conscious consumers.

2005: General Mills therefore sold its stake in Snack Ventures Europe to PepsiCo for $750 million in February 2005 and two months later sold the Lloyd's barbecue business to Hormel Foods Corporation for about $50 million. Thompson, Stephanie. "Cheerios Crushes Tony as Kellogg Launch Flops." Advertising Age, June 13, 2005. In July 2005, in what Sanger touted as perhaps the "biggest single health-related product improvement in the history of the cereal category," General Mills converted its entire Big G cereal line to whole grain to meet growing consumer demand for more healthful food options. Thanks to the cash received through these divestments and the firm's strong cash flow, General Mills managed to reduce its total debt to $6.19 billion by the end of 2005. In 2005 the "Heartbeat" spot won a Gold EFFIE Award, and the "Adoption" spot garnered four ADDY Awards, including the National Gold. Post took a different approach to reach moms and their kids in 2005; it reformulated its Alpha-Bits cereal, making it sugar free and whole grain.

2006: In May 2006 Ken Powell was promoted to president and chief operating officer, a move that seemed to place the 26-year company veteran in position to eventually succeed Sanger as General Mills' CEO. Overall revenues for 2006 edged up 4 percent, to $11.64 billion, while net earnings were a healthy $1.1 billion.

2007: The idea came to Ken Powell, who became CEO of General Mills in 2007, after he attended a forum on hunger.

2008: So in 2008, General Mills founded Partners in Food Solutions.

2011: In April 2011, General Mills announced that it will switch all 1 million eggs it uses each year to cage-free. Earlier in his career, Powell had been president of Yoplait USA. It was under Powell in 2011 that General Mills made another significant move when it acquired a controlling interest in Yoplait S.A.S.

2012: It was also under Powell in 2012 that General Mills acquired Yoki Alimentos.

2013: Since 1954, the General Mills Foundation has fueled more than half a billion dollars in support to nonprofit organizations in our communities. It reached a milestone in fiscal year 2013, when it donated nearly $3 million a week.

2014: 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.

2015: In 2015, 301 INC, the new business development and venturing unit at General Mills, launched a multi-million dollar capital fund through the CircleUp marketplace to seed emerging consumer food brands. United States retail represents the company’s largest operating segment, with more than $10.5 billion in sales in 2015, followed by its international business with more than $5.1 billion in sales and the convenience stores and food service segment with nearly $2 billion.

2016: 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. By 2016, under CEO Ken Powell, General Mills had eight natural and organic lines, including Annie's, Cascadian Farm, Food Should Taste Good, Immaculate Baking, Lärabar, Liberté, Mountain High and Muir Glen.

2018: In February 2018, the company entered into the pet products industry, paying $8 billion to buy Blue Buffalo Pet Products, Inc. 2018: Blue Buffalo joins the General Mills family, marking a new chapter as the leader in the Wholesome Natural pet food category As of 2018, the company ranked 182nd on the Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by revenue.

2021: On May 15, 2021, General Mills announced that it was acquiring Tyson Foods' pet treat business, including True Chews, Nudges and Top Chews, for $1.2 billion.

2022: "General Mills, Inc. ." International Directory of Company Histories. . Retrieved June 21, 2022 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/general-mills-inc-1

According to General Mills, the company mission is: “to make food is as important as the food the company makes. General Mills values are baked into legacy and continue to accelerate us into the future as an innovative company that stands for good".

According to General Mills, the company vision is: “pioneering spirit lives on today through leadership team who upholds a vision of relentless innovation while standing for good".