General Mills
American multinational manufacturer of branded consumer foods.
General Mills, Inc. is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded consumer foods sold through retail stores. Originally a large flour miller founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company is now headquartered in Golden Valley, Minnesota. It markets many well-known North American brands, including Gold Medal flour, Annie's Homegrown, Lärabar, Cascadian Farm, Betty Crocker, Nature Valley, Totino's, Pillsbury, Old El Paso, Häagen-Dazs, and breakfast cereals such as Cheerios, Wheaties, Chex, Lucky Charms, Trix, Cocoa Puffs, and the monster cereals.
Quick Facts
- Former name
- Minneapolis Milling Company (1856–1877), Washburn-Crosby Company (1877–1928)
- Traded as
- GIS, S&P 500 component
- Area served
- Worldwide
- Key people
- Jeffrey Harmening (chairman and CEO)
- Industry
- Food processing
- Employees
- 34,000 (May 2024)
- Subsidiaries
- Cereal Partners Worldwide (50%)
- Founders
- Robert Smith
- Cadwallader C. Washburn
- John Crosby
- James Ford Bell
Facts from the source article.
History
The company traces its history to the Minneapolis Milling Company, incorporated in 1856 by Illinois congressman Robert Smith, who leased power rights to flour mills along the west side of Saint Anthony Falls on the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Cadwallader C. Washburn acquired the company shortly after and hired his brother William D. Washburn to assist. In 1866 the Washburns built the Washburn "B" Mill at the falls, and in 1874 they built the even larger Washburn "A" Mill. In 1877 the mill entered a partnership with John Crosby to form the Washburn-Crosby Company, producing winter wheat flour. That same year William Hood Dunwoody was sent to England to open the market for spring wheat and became a silent partner. In 1878 the "A" mill was destroyed in a flour dust explosion along with five nearby buildings, an event known as the Great Mill Disaster, killing 18 workers. Construction of a new mill began immediately, and it was safer and able to produce higher quality flour after 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, leading to the launch of the Gold Medal flour brand. In 1924 the company acquired a failing Twin Cities radio station, WLAG, renaming it WCCO (from Washburn-Crosby Company). General Mills itself was created on June 20, 1928, when Washburn-Crosby President James Ford Bell merged Washburn-Crosby with three other mills. That year it also acquired the Wichita Mill and Elevator Company of the industrialist Frank Kell of Wichita Falls, Texas. 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 in 1928 and has continued the dividend uninterrupted ever since.
Public and legal issues
The company has been associated with social media campaigns and education of dieticians promoting the "anti-diet" movement, which has been connected with promoting its own high-sugar foods. In April 2014, General Mills changed its website legal terms to introduce an arbitration clause requiring disputes to be resolved in small claims court or arbitration, not as a class action. The change followed a judge's denial of a motion to dismiss a class action regarding Nature Valley marketing. Users would accept terms by interacting with the website in ways such as downloading coupons or subscribing to newsletters. The New York Times reported the agreement could be interpreted to construe purchasing products or liking the company's Facebook page as assent; General Mills called that a mischaracterization. After a massive backlash, the company reverted the terms after a few days. On February 12, 2020, the United Nations published a database of companies doing business in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the occupied Golan Heights; General Mills was listed due to its subsidiary General Mills Israel's activities in Israeli settlements. As of June 30, 2023, General Mills is no longer involved in Israeli settlements and has been removed from the database. In 2015 the company set a timeline to phase out eggs from caged chickens in US products by 2025, and in 2017 expanded the pledge globally. General Mills has committed to reducing emissions from its dairy operations by 40% by 2030.
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