General Mills Convenience & Foodservice history

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.

In 1878 the Association was reorganized to appease farmers who found its business practices unfair.

Betty Crocker didn't exist. "She" was a trusted team of experts, put in place to answer homemakers' questions starting in 1921.

Her name first appeared on William G. Crocker baking products in 1921.

“Have You Tried Wheaties?”, a barbershop quartet-style ditty and what is believed to be the first singing radio commercial, debuted on Christmas Eve in 1926.

1928: Bell's son, James Ford, leads the creation of General Mills through the merger of Washburn Crosby with several other regional millers.

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.

But General Mills believed that the aging brand, which had been introduced in 1941 as Cheerioats, was losing its edge.

For example, in 1941, more than 3 million cars were manufactured in the United States.

1947: The first Betty Crocker cake mix is introduced.

Betty Crocker became a brand name in 1947 when Betty Crocker Ginger Cake mix was released.

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.

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.

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.

The company also entered the fashion market through the purchase of Monocraft Products, maker of Monet jewelry, in 1968.

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.

Having already acquired the Red Lobster seafood chain in 1970, General Mills attempted other formats that did not work, including steakhouses and Mexican and health food eateries.

Rawlings also bought jewelry companies and clothing companies (David Crystal, makers of Izod; Eddie Bauer; Talbots), and purchased Red Lobster in 1970.

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.

After the 1977 sale of the chemical division, General Mills divided its business into food processing, restaurants, games and toys, fashion, and specialty retailing.

At the company's Buffalo, New York, facility more than $30 million has been spent on improvements since 1981.

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.

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.

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.

Rawlings, Edwin W., Born to Fly, Minneapolis: Great Way Publishing, 1987.

1989: Eddie Bauer and Talbot's are sold; Cereal Partners Worldwide, a joint venture with Nestlé S.A., is formed.

The breakfast cereal plant had been opened in 1991 to augment cereal production until a new facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico, could be constructed.

Capital improvement spending at General Mills food division totaled $208 million in 1993.

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.

The current Betty Crocker, the eighth such recreation, was introduced in 1996 to mark Betty's 75th birthday.

Box Tops for Education has since helped schools earn more than half a billion dollars. It started out in 1996 as an experiment on cereal boxes in California.

1997: The branded ready-to-eat cereal and snack mix businesses of Ralcorp Holdings, Inc. are acquired, including the Chex brand.

In 1997 prices increased 2.6 percent, which was the first increase in three years.

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.

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.

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.

The company announced in 1998 that it would combine Betty Crocker and its Gold Medal division into a new integrated Betty Crocker division that was projected to produce about one-third of the company's total sales.

1998 american big business directory, vol. i. omaha, ne: american business directories, 1998.

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.

General Mills added to its product lines in 1999 through several modest acquisitions.

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 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.

The two businesses united when General Mills acquired Pillsbury Co. in 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.

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.

It was released in 2003.

―――――――. "Kellogg Pounces on Toddlers; Tiger Power to Wrest Tot Monopoly Away from General Mills' $500M Cheerios Brand." Advertising Age, December 6, 2004.

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.

Overall revenues for 2006 edged up 4 percent, to $11.64 billion, while net earnings were a healthy $1.1 billion.

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.