General Mills is a corporation, mainly concerned with food products, that is headquartered in Golden Valley, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis.

Overview

The company markets such brands as Betty Crocker, Nestlé, Yoplait, and Pillsbury, as well as numerous well-known breakfast cereals (see below). General Mills's original name was the Washburn Crosby Company, which created legendary Twin Cities broadcaster WCCO. The founders of the Washburn Crosby Company included Congressman Cadwallader Colden Washburn.

In 1988, General Mills sold General Mills Specialty Retail Group, which was the parent company of both Eddie Bauer (now defunct) and Talbots .

In 1990, General Mills and Nestlé started a 50/50 joint venture called Cereal Partners Worldwide to market breakfast cereals for both the United States and Europe. CPW distributes cereals manufactured by both companies under the Nestlé brand name.

The company merged with Pillsbury in 2001. While many of the Pillsbury-branded products are still manufactured by General Mills, some products had to be sold off to allow the merger since the new company would have held a very strong monopoly position. Some products carrying the Pillsbury name, such as cake mixes, are now sold by The J. M. Smucker Co.

In late 2004, the company transitioned its entire breakfast cereal line to whole grain. This was partially due to the low-carbohydrate diet craze that had been sweeping the United States in the early 2000s decade, but was also influenced by research indicating that highly-refined grains can have detrimental health effects. Also in 2004, General Mills was named one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers by Working Mothers magazine.

Breakfast cereals

• Boo Berry
• Cheerios
• Cinnamon Grahams
• Chex
• Cocoa Puffs
• Cookie Crisp
• Count Chocula
• Frankenberry
• Fruit Brute
• Golden Grahams
• Lucky Charms
• Total
• Trix
• Wheaties
• Yummy Mummy

External links

• General Mills homepage
• General Mills corporate brands
• Millsberry (Online games sponsored by General Mills)
• Cereal Partners Worldwide (A marketing partnership with Nestlé)
• Topher's Breakfast Cereal Character Guide
• Yahoo! - General Mills, Inc. Company Profile (Corporate data)