Pillsbury and Washburn both wanted to find a way to make midwestern winter wheat into a higher grade of flour. That same year, they joined forces to form the Minneapolis Millers Association. Pillsbury, who founded the Pillsbury Flour Mills Company (forerunner of the Pillsbury Company) in 1869. His business, originally called the Minneapolis Milling Company, competed with local miller Charles A. General Mills was incorporated in 1928, but its origins go back to 1866, when Cadwallader Washburn opened the first flour mill in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This set the stage for a new round of acquisitions within the food industry, culminating in the 2001 acquisition of Pillsbury. With the 1995 spinoff of its restaurant division into Darden Restaurants, Inc., General Mills completed its transformation back into a strictly packaged food company. From the 1960s to the early 1990s the company embarked on numerous adventures outside of food, owning at various times toy companies (Kenner Products, Parker Brothers), fashion businesses (Monet Jewelers, Foot-Joy), specialty retailers ( Eddie Bauer, Talbots), and restaurants (Red Lobster, Olive Garden).

General Mills is also active outside the grocery sector through its bakeries and foodservice unit, which markets a variety of products to educational, hospitality, and healthcare institutions, convenience stores, and vending machine operators.įrom the late 19th to the early 21st century, General Mills evolved from its Minneapolis milling roots into a global packaged food giant. called Cereal Partners Worldwide, which makes and sells ready-to-eat cereals outside North America. Internationally, General Mills is also involved in several joint ventures, including a 50-50 enterprise with Nestl é S.A. About 16 percent of the company's revenues are derived from its international businesses, which produce products in 17 countries and market them in more than 100 countries worldwide. General Mills also has two organic food brands operating through its Small Planet Foods, Inc., subsidiary: Cascadian Farm, specializing in frozen fruits and vegetables, cereals, and other products and Muir Glen, concentrating on canned tomato products. These brands include Gold Medal flour, Bisquick baking mixes, Betty Crocker dessert mixes, Hamburger Helper dinner mixes, Old El Paso Mexican foods, Progresso soups, Green Giant canned and frozen vegetables, Pillsbury refrigerated and frozen dough products, Totino's and Jeno's frozen pizza and snack products, Chex Mix and Gardetto's snack mixes, Pop Secret microwave popcorn, Nature Valley granola bars, and Yoplait, Go-Gurt, and Colombo yogurt. In addition to its breakfast cereal products, the company produces some of the top names in other food lines, some of which were added through the October 2001 acquisition of the Pillsbury Company. The Big G line of well-known cereal brands includes Cheerios, Chex, Cocoa Puffs, Kix, Lucky Charms, Total, Trix, and Wheaties. General Mills, Inc., one of the world's leading producers of packaged consumer foods, is best known for its Big G Cereals unit, the number two cereal maker in the United States, trailing only Kellogg Company.

NAIC: 311211 Flour Milling 311230 Breakfast Cereal Manufacturing 311340 Nonchocolate Confectionery Manufacturing 311411 Frozen Fruit, Juice, and Vegetable Manufacturing 311412 Frozen Specialty Food Manufacturing 311421 Fruit and Vegetable Canning 311422 Specialty Canning 311423 Dried and Dehydrated Food Manufacturing 311511 Fluid Milk Manufacturing 311520 Ice Cream and Frozen Dessert Manufacturing 311812 Commercial Bakeries 311822 Flour Mixes and Dough Manufacturing from Purchased Flour 311919 Other Snack Food Manufacturing 311999 All Other Miscellaneous Food Manufacturing

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