General Mills is a Fortune 500 corporation, mainly concerned with food products, which is headquartered in Golden Valley, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. The company markets several well-known brands, such as Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Colombo, Totinos, Jeno's, 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.

History

The company can trace its history to the Minneapolis Milling Company, an organization founded in 1856 by Illinois Congressman Robert Smith which leased power rights to mills operating along Saint Anthony Falls on the Mississippi River. Cadwallader C. Washburn 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. A year later, the "A" mill exploded, killing 17 workers and also demolishing several nearby buildings. The mill was rebuilt and continued to operate for almost 90 years.

In the 1920s, the company stepped in to take over a failing Twin Cities radio station, renaming it WCCO (from Washburn-Crosby Company). General Mills itself was created in 1928 when Washburn-Crosby President James Ford Bell directed his company to merge with 26 other mills.

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 house wares products featured in the widely distributed Betty Crocker catalog. The coupons and the catalog were discontinued by the company in 2006, and a new website based retail concept is scheduled to open in 2007.

General Mills brought the popular radio show The Lone Ranger to broadcast in 1941. The show was then brought to television, and, after 20 years, their sponsorship came to an end in 1961.

When NASA astronaut Scott Carpenter launched into space on Aurora 7 in 1962, he was carrying with him the first solid space food – small food cubes developed by Pillsbury’s research and development department. Taking Pillsbury scientists more than a year to develop, space food cubes were followed by other space-friendly foods, such as non-crumbly cake, relish that could be served in slices, and meat that needed no refrigeration.

The first venture General Mills took into the toy industry was in 1965. The company bought Rainbow Crafts, which was the manufacturer of Play-Doh. General Mills’ purchase of the company was substantial because it brought production costs down and tripled the revenue.

Beginning in 1959, General Mills sponsored the famous Rocky and His Friends television show, which later prompted The Bullwinkle Show in 1961. Until 1968, Rocky and Bullwinkle were featured in a variety of advertisements for General Mills.

General Mills came out with their “Monster Cereals” in the 1970s. Two of the cereals, Frute Brute and Yummy Mummy, were discontinued from the “Monster Cereal” line in the 1980s.

In 1970, General Mills acquired a five-unit restaurant company called Red Lobster and expanded it nationwide. Soon, a division of General Mills titled General Mills Restaurants developed to take charge of the Red Lobster chain. In 1982, General Mills Restaurants founded a new Italian-themed restaurant chain called Olive Garden. Another themed restaurant, China Coast, was added before the entire group was spun-off to General Mills shareholders in 1995 as Darden Restaurants.

From 1976 to 1985, General Mills went to court as the parent company of Parker Brothers, which held the rights on the brand name and gaming idea of the board game Monopoly, 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, which ruled against them, saying that while they have exclusive rights to the game Monopoly, they can not prevent others from using the word "monopoly" in the name of a game. During the 1980s, General Mills sold Parker Brothers to Kenner.

In 2001, the company purchased Pillsbury, although it was officially described as a "merger." Some of the cereals had whole grain, but in late 2004, the company transitioned its entire breakfast cereal line to whole grain due to scientific research showing the positive impact eating whole grains has on one's health.

Since 2004, General Mills has been producing more products targeted to the growing ranks of health-conscious consumers. The company has chosen to switch all its cereals to whole grain. According to nutritionalists, whole grains are a much healthier choice when choosing grain products. "If whole grain becomes a marketing magnet, it could lead the way to a healthier nation," says Dr. Neal Barnard, author of Breaking the Food Seduction. The company also started manufacturing their kid-targeted cereals with less sugar.

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
• 1962: NASA astronaut Scott Carpenter carries solid space food, developed by Pillsbury, aboard Aurora 7. Taking Pillsbury scientists more than a year to develop, the space food cubes were followed by other space-friendly foods, such as non-crumbly cake, relish that could be served in slices, and meat that needed no refrigeration.

Corporate governance

Current officers include:

• Kendall J. Powell - Chief Executive Officer, Chairman of the Board
• Ian R. Friendly - Executive Vice President; Chief Operating Officer, U.S. Retail,
• Donal Leo Mulligan - Executive Vice President; Chief Financial Officer,
• Mark Addicks - Senior Vice President; Chief Marketing Officer,
• Ken L. Thome - Senior Vice President; Deputy Chief FinancialOfficer
• Mary Catherine Toker - Senior Vice President; Government Relations
• Sheri Schellhaass - Vice President; Research and Development.

General Mills Brands

Breakfast cereals

Basic 4 Buc-Wheats Cheerios Apple Cinnamon Cheerios Frosted Cheerios Fruity Cheerios Honey Nut Cheerios Chex Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cocoa Puffs	Cookie Crisp Crazy Cow Fiber One French Toast Crunch General Mills Kaboom Golden Grahams Jurassic Park Crunch Kix Lucky Charms	Monster-Themed breakfast cereals Boo Berry Count Chocula Franken Berry Oatmeal Crisp Raisin Nut Bran Reese's Puffs Total (cereal) Trix (cereal) Wheaties

• Breakfast Breaks

Other

Betty Crocker Bisquick Bugles Cascadian Farm Chex Mix Diablitos Underwood (Venezuela only) Forno de Minas Frescarini Fruit Snacks Gardetto's	Gold Medal Flour Green Giant Häagen-Dazs Hamburger Helper Jeno's Jus-Rol Knack & Back La Salteña Latina Milk 'n' Cereal Bars Muir Glen	Nature Valley Old El Paso Pillsbury Pop Secret Progresso Totino's V. Pearl Wanchai Ferry Yoplait/Colombo

Former brands

• Cheerioats
• Honey Nut Clusters
• Hot Chips
• Wackies
• Wahoos
• Squeezit

Company Locations

As of May 25, 2008, 79 facilities for the production of a wide variety of food products were being operated . Of these facilities, 49 are located in the United States, 12 in the Asia/Pacific region (8 of which are leased), 5 in Canada (2 of which are leased), 7 in Europe (3 of which are leased), 5 in Latin America and Mexico, and 1 in South Africa. The following is a list of the locations of principal production facilities, which primarily support the segment noted:

U.S. Retail

• Carson, California • Kansas City, Missouri • Lodi, California • Great Falls, Montana • Covington, Georgia • Vineland, New Jersey • Belvidere, Illinois • Albuquerque, New Mexico • West Chicago, Illinois • Buffalo, New York • New Albany, Indiana • Wellston, Ohio • Carlisle, Iowa • Murfreesboro, Tennessee • Cedar Rapids, Iowa • Milwaukee, Wisconsin • Reed City, Michigan • Irapuato, Mexico • Hannibal, Missouri

International Bakeries and Foodservice

• Rooty Hill, Australia • Chanhassen, Minnesota • Guangzhou, China • Joplin, Missouri • Arras, France • Martel, Ohio • San Adrian, Spain • Berwick, United Kingdom • Cagua, Venezuela

Marketing ventures

Box Tops for Education

“Box Tops for Education has helped America's schools earn over $200 million since 1996.” Box Tops for Education is a nationwide fundraising program. K-8 schools encourage students to collect the box tops off a variety of General Mills packages and send them in to receive money for their school. The program began with box tops only being on Big G cereals, but has expanded to products such as Cheerios, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Ziploc, Kleenex, and many more. A list of all products included in the Box Tops program can be found at http://www.boxtops4education.com/AboutBoxTops/Products.aspx. Schools can earn up to $20,000 a year from collecting box tops alone. General Mills has also teamed up with over 60 online stores and created the Box Top Book Club to allow students to earn even more money for their school. The Box Top program also provides constant promotions for more money earning opportunities.

Millsberry

On August 2004, Millsberry, an advergame, was created as a marketing tool. This is a free, kid friendly website available to everyone. It is a virtual community where participants can create their own character, or buddy, and have them interact with others in the community. The website also provides games for characters to participate in, which allows players to earn millsbucks, the site's currency, so that they can buy things for their character or house, including pets, furniture, clothing, and food. These games also allow users to increase the health, intelligence, fitness, and civics levels of their buddy. In certain games, users do not gain points in any of the these four categories but instead receive prizes. Earning a large enough score on some games will allow users to earn a trophy to display. Users of this website also have the opportunity to send and receive e-cards and virtual gifts to other users.

See also

• DSV Alvin, deep-ocean research submersible owned by the United States Navy. Constructed by General Mills.
• Washburn "A" Mill, a former General Mills production facility that now houses the Mill City Museum.

External links

• General Mills homepage
• Box Tops for Education
• General Mills MBA Case Study w/Solution
• Cereal Partners Worldwide (A marketing partnership with Nestlé)
• Millsberry, General Mills' advergame.
• General Mills Marketing & Advertising (Guidelines)

References