One of the world's leading food companies, General Mills has been Nourishing Lives for generations.

Who We Are

We trace our roots to 1866 on the banks of the Mississippi River in the heartland of the United States, where our founders built the world’s largest flour milling company.

Today, General Mills is a consumer-focused food company marketing some of the world’s most trusted brands.

From our U.S. headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota, General Mills operates in more than 100 countries on six continents, with offices from Buenos Aires to Bangkok, Mumbai to Madrid. Our 29,500 employees generate $14.9 billion in annual revenues.

The General Mills family of brands includes Häagen-Dazs, Nature Valley, Cheerios, Pillsbury, Green Giant, Old El Paso, Progresso, Wheaties, Betty Crocker, Wanchai Ferry and many more in dozens of categories throughout the grocery store. Our roster also includes products such as Muir Glen organic tomatoes and sauces, and Cascadian Farm organic fruits and vegetables. Our portfolio of leading brands provides consumers with quality products that make their lives healthier, easier and richer, around the world, day and night.

General Mills’ mission is Nourishing Lives – to help make lives healthier, easier, and richer. That mission expresses not only what we do, but why we do it. Throughout our history, we’ve worked to be responsible corporate citizens – economically, socially and environmentally – while serving the needs of our consumers, customers, shareholders, employees and the communities in which we live and work.

General Mills has contributed nearly 5% of its pretax profits to charitable causes for almost a decade. In fiscal 2009, we donated more than $90 million to communities across the United States, Canada, Mexico, China and many other countries. That’s an increase of 4% over fiscal 2008 and an 8.5% increase over fiscal 2007. In addition, we continue to encourage our employees to volunteer in their communities. Our recent survey found that 82% of General Mills’ U.S. employees volunteer.

Working to Make a Difference

The company’s efforts to help build strong communities are categorized into three broad areas:

Brand philanthropy and corporate contributions
This represents the largest share – $53.6 million in fiscal 2009 – of our giving, and includes contributions from well-known, cause-marketing programs, such as our flagship Box Tops for Education program, which supports K-8 schools in the U.S.

Foundation grants
This refers to the $20.8 million in fiscal 2009 that was allocated by the General Mills Foundation to support youth nutrition and fitness, social services, education, and arts and culture. Among the funded initiatives is Champions for Healthy Kids, a program to distribute 50 grants each year to support community-based organizations to promote healthy, active lifestyles in children.

Product donations
This represents the more than $16 million in products that the company has donated to Feeding America (formerly America’s Second Harvest), a network of food shelves in the U.S. General Mills has contributed about 5% of its pretax profits since 2000 and we’ve stepped up our giving to food shelves in the current economic crisis.

Expanding Brand Philanthropy

In 2009, General Mills expanded many of its industry-leading, cause marketing initiatives that represent more than half of the company’s philanthropic contributions. And we used new tools to make these programs more successful. Support for brand philanthropy and corporate contributions increased nearly 17% in fiscal 2008 over fiscal 2007.

Advancing Education

General Mills is a true champion of learning and believes that education can create a foundation for future success. Our commitment in this area is showcased by two leading initiatives:

Box Tops for Education
The Box Tops for Education program has raised more than $300 million over 13 years, allowing K-8 schools in the U.S. to buy items such as playground equipment, computers and books. Schools can earn up to $60,000 per year by clipping Box Top labels (worth $.10 each) on select General Mills (and partner) products; shopping online at the Box Tops Marketplace; and shopping online at The Reading Room. For more information, visit www.BoxTops4Education.com.

Spoonfuls of Stories
Through the Spoonfuls of Stories program, over the past six years, Cheerios has distributed more than 40 million high-quality children’s books inside boxes of Cheerios cereal and has contributed more than $3.2 million to First Book, a national organization that provides new books to children in need. For more information on Spoonfuls of Stories, visit www.Cheerios.com.

Helping Those Facing Hunger

In addition to the more than $16 million in product donations to Feeding America, General Mills proudly supports two cause marketing programs that further the fight against hunger in the U.S.:

The Pound for Pound Challenge
The concept behind this campaign is simple: For every pound you lose, one pound of groceries will be delivered to a local food bank. In 2009, the initiative was promoted on NBC Television’s “The Biggest Loser” to help ensure broad awareness. General Mills ultimately helped deliver more than 3.5 million pounds of groceries to Feeding America food banks to help fight hunger in the U.S. For more information, visit www.PFPChallenge.com.

Home is Calling
The Pillsbury “Home is Calling” campaign, launched shortly before the 2008 holiday season, included a donation to Feeding America each time users forwarded a link to the Home Is Calling ad from Pillsbury.com (up to 250,000 pounds). For more information, visit www.Pillsbury.com.

Supporting Breast Cancer Research

General Mills is one of the largest consumer packaged goods supporters of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Our two leading campaigns have contributed more than $26 million to support Komen and its mission to fund breast cancer awareness and research.

Yoplait Save Lids to Save Lives
The Yoplait brand’s Save Lids to Save Lives program celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2008. Over the years, Yoplait has contributed more than $22 million to the breast cancer cause, and has pledged to continue serving as the National Presenting Sponsor of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Series through 2011. For more information, visit www.YourLidMatters.com.

Pink Together
Pink Together is General Mills’ corporate initiative against breast cancer which spans products from Cheerios to Nature Valley and Progresso. Pink Together was created to promote awareness, fund continued research via a $2 million annual donation, and build a community of hope and support for those touched by breast cancer. For more information, visit www.PinkTogether.com.

Connecting with Multicultural Consumers

While General Mills has long reached out to African-American and Latino communities in a variety of ways, we have worked to deepen those relationships even further.

Feeding Dreams
The intent of “Feeding Dreams” is to honor unsung heroes in African-American communities for their dedication and service. The program was created with input from the Black Champions Network employee group, one of several General Mills employee councils created to foster inclusion. For more information, visit www.FeedingDreams.com.

Que Rica Vida
A second multicultural program – Que Rica Vida (which means “what a rich, wonderful life” in Spanish) – offers a quarterly magazine and web site that provides Hispanic mothers with information about nutrition and health. For more information, visit www.QueRicaVida.com.

Reaching Out Globally

Helping Africa Feed Itself
Building upon its many philanthropic efforts in the U.S., General Mills is also helping to nourish lives in other parts of the world that need help the most – including two of Africa’s poorest countries: Malawi and Tanzania.

The African Women and Children’s Hunger Project is an initiative focused on sustainable agricultural development. The goal is to leverage the technical expertise of General Mills scientists, agronomists, nutritionists, and engineers to make subsistence farming more marketable, profitable, and sustainable. To date, about 300 General Mills technical employees have offered their services, and those in other parts of the company – such as marketing – are also helping.

“We have moved from a focus on feeding others to helping Africans feed themselves and expand their economic opportunities,” says Chris Shea, senior vice president of External Relations and president of the General Mills Foundation.

General Mills resources have been used to:

• Expand production capacity of grain processing businesses to improve nutrition of mothers with young children while also increasing income of Tanzanian millet farmers

• Help train 500 farmer households in Malawi in improved livestock production methods, including the construction of six poultry houses and seven fish ponds

• Develop small-scale irrigation projects to help 3,000 women grow vegetables in Malawi

• Construct new pig enclosures, as well as supply the livestock, to address the needs of 1,000 households in Malawi

• Establish a micro-financing organization to help women start small businesses

There has been progress with these projects in Africa, but there is also much left to do. The United Nations’ Human Development Index, which measures life expectancy and standard of living, ranks Malawi 164th out of 177 countries worldwide, and Tanzania 159th.