General Mills, Inc.
Type
Public (NYSE: GIS)
Founded 1866
Headquarters HQ in Golden Valley, Minnesota; manufacturing facilities around the world
Key people Steve Sanger, Chairman and CEO
Ken Powell, Vice Chairman
Industry
Food processing
Products
Baking mixes, Breakfast cereals, yogurt, refrigerated dough, soup, pizza, snack foods, ice cream, soy products, vegetables, flour, and more...
Revenue
$12.442 billion USD (2007)
Slogan
The Company of Champions
Website
www.generalmills.com
The Company
General Mills markets several well-known brands, including Betty Crocker, Häagen-Dazs, Pillsbury, Green Giant, Old El Paso and Cheerios. Their brand portfolio includes more than 100 leading U.S. brands and numerous category leaders around the world. On average, U.S. shoppers place at least one General Mills product into their shopping cart each time they visit the grocery store. [1]
General Mills markets global brands such as Green Giant vegetables, Old El Paso Mexican food and Häagen-Dazs ice cream. Their U.S. portfolio includes Yoplait yogurt, Cheerios, Wheaties and other Big G cereals.
The company can trace its history to the Minneapolis Milling Company, an organization founded in 1866 by Cadwallader C. Washburn which leased power rights to mills operating along Saint Anthony Falls on the Mississippi River. His brother William D. Washburn also assisted 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 b ...