General Mills SuccessStory
General Mills is known for manufacturing and marketing branded food items that are readily available in all retail stores. Based in Golden Valley, Minnesota, the company has many reputed brands to its credit. Some of the products manufactured by the company also happen to be market leaders around the world. A few popular brands manufactured by General Mills include Cheerios, Pillsbury, Cocoa Puffs, Betty Crocker, Haagen-Dazs etc.
History
General Mills came into being in the year 1928, when the president of the well known food manufacturing company Washburn-Crosby, James Ford Bell, guided his company to merge with 26 other mills. In the beginning, the company marketed its products with some top box coupons that could be exchanged for the well-known Betty Crocker products. This was a real catch and something that prompted a steady flow of consumers for the company’s products. The mill continued to offer these coupons to its customers till 2006, when the management finally decided to withdraw the coupons.
Brands
Over the years, the company has come up with a number of products and brands that have made a name for themselves, not only in the American market but across the globe. The company manufactures a number of products into breakfast cereals, baking goods, grain snacks, meal products etc. Some of the well known breakfast cereal brands that are manufactured and marketed by the company include Cheerios, Cocoa Puffs, Basic 4, Fiber One, Trix, Wheaties, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Oatmeal Crisp, Franken Berry, Boo-Berry etc.
Some of the popular baking good brands are Betty Crocker, Jus-Rol, Pillsbury, Bisquick, Knack & Back, La Saltena etc. Other important brands manufactured by General Mills include Frescarini, Green Giant, Nature Valley, Bugles, Yoplait, Haagen-Dazs, Latina, Totino’s, Fruit Gushers and many more. The brand portfolio of the company is quite vast. Of these, more than 89 brands are quite popular across United States of America and a number of brands are actually market leaders in different parts of the world.
Their ice cream brand Haagen-Dazs is extremely popular in various countries.
Diversification
Owing to its popularity, the company thought of diversifying into other fields as well. It started off by sponsoring various programmes on radio and television. In 1941, the General Mills started sponsoring the popular radio series The Lone Ranger. This association continued for about 20 years. In 1959, the company moved on to sponsoring television shows. The most popular among these was Rocky and His Friends which was later renamed The Bullwinkle Show. They also sponsored a number of other series like The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Tennessee Tuxedo etc.
General Mills also launched their Aeronautical Research Division in 1946, which was led by chief engineer Otto C. Whitten. This division developed a number of high altitude balloons for the navy, the most famous being Skyhook. The company also moved on to manufacture toys for kids, the most famous one being Play-Doh. Famous restaurant chain Good Earth is also a part of General Mills.
- Full Name :
- General Mills
- Founded :
- 1928
- Founder :
- James Ford Bell
- CEO :
- Kendall J. Powell
- Industry :
- Manufacturing
- Sector :
- Public
- Country :
- USA
- Website :
- www.generalmills.com
