Ferré & Consulting Blog (English Version)

Food giant General Mills, which is the sixth biggest food manufacturer in the world, has announced it is launching a new cereal.

The manufacturer is bringing out Total Plus Omega-3s Honey Almond Flax cereal, with the aim of helping adults consume enough Omega-3s.

According to the brand, around 50 per cent of adults are looking for ways to boost their intake of the mineral.

General Mills claims the Total Plus cereal contains the daily value of 12 essential minerals and vitamins, as well as 10 per cent of the daily value of Omega-3s in every serving.

“With the new Total Plus Omega-3s cereal, health-conscious Americans who have long trusted Total to deliver superior nutrition can also reap the benefits of Omega-3 ALA from flax,” said Dan Stangler, marketing manager for Total cereal.

Omega-3 fatty acids play a key role in helping maintain a healthy body.

Last week, General Mills was the victim of a hoax press release which claimed Barack Obama had ordered a full investigation into the whole of the General Mills supply chain following product recalls.

Ingredients General Mills, new cereal, Omega-3 fatty acids

Workers at a UK factory which produces breakfast cereals for Nestle and General Mills have called off their strike action.

The strike at Cereal Partner’s UK factory in Staverton, Wiltshire, was due to start from 5:00BST yesterday (June 24th).

Nestle announced a national pay-freeze earlier this year and the strike was to be the first of three walkouts aimed at showing staff anger over the pay restrictions.

If an agreement has not been reached by July 8th, the next strike will go ahead. The third one is scheduled to take place on August 26th.

“Following the threat of strike action we have managed to secure certain improvements to our members’ terms and conditions.

“Therefore, strike action planned for this week will no longer take place and the new offer will be put forward to the workforce,” said Jim D’Avila, Unite the union’s regional officer.

Unite is the biggest union in the UK. It represents the interests of around two million members in various workforce sectors.

Companies General Mills, Nestle

Cereals manufacturer General Mills is one of the top ten UK employers, according to a new survey.

The report, called UK’s Best Workplace, was published by Great Place To Work Institute.

Dairy manufacturer Danone is also in the top ten, while beverage giant Coca-Cola and confectioner Cadbury ranked in the top 25 employers.

Since the inception of the best workplace programme, more than 500 UK workplaces have been recognised by the institute.

As well as this, the institute has worked with UK organisations to measure their workplace climate and help them assess their own space, Tom O’Byrne, chief executive officer of the Great Place To Work Institute, wrote in the report.

Recently, Cadbury’s new owner, Kraft Foods, said it may cut up to 600 jobs in the UK.

Kraft plans to close its headquarters in Cheltenham and move operations to Cadbury sites in Uxbridge and Bourneville in other part of the UK.

Companies General Mills, UK's Best Workplace

Food giant General Mills has won an Edison Best New Product award for its Betty Crocker Gluten Free Dessert Mixes.

The products took home at gold award at the ceremony, which was held in New York, US, last week.

Betty Crocker was the first nationally recognised brand to launch gluten free brownie, cookie and cake mixes aimed at people with specific dietary requirements.

“We are thrilled that Betty Crocker Gluten Free Dessert Mixes won gold and are honoured to have one of the strongest brand icons in the food industry associated with one of America’s greatest inventors,” said Jodi Benson, baking research and development and transformational business development director for General Mills.

“It has been extremely rewarding to welcome gluten free consumers back to Betty Crocker through this innovative line of products.”

Other winners in the awards’ food segment included Con Agra’s Healthy Choice Mixers which received a silver accolade.

Source: Ingredients Network

Companies, Pastry General Mills, gluten free brownie

Highlighted by compound annual sales growth of 11% since 2005, Cereal Partners Worldwide “ranks as one of the biggest and best new food companies created in the past 20 years,” said Christopher D. O’Leary, executive vice-president and chief operating officer, international, General Mills, Inc.

Mr. O’Leary offered an overview of CPW as part of a wide-ranging presentation by General Mills executives at the 2010 Consumer Analyst Group of New York annual conference, held at the Boca Raton Resort and Club in Boca Raton.

Established 20 years ago as a partnership between Nestle SA and General Mills, CPW generates net sales of more than US$2 billion across more than 130 countries, producing cereal in 14 production plants with 4,000 employees. Mr. O’Leary said the company has roughly a 25% market share in cereal worldwide, excluding the United States and Canada.

Commenting on the sales growth, Mr. O’Leary noted that the acquisition of the Uncle Tobys business in Australia helped but said product innovation and marketing were the principal drivers.

“But this growth story is still in its early chapters,” he said. “We see big opportunities ahead for CPW and for the global cereal market fueled by product news and innovation, emerging market expansion, our HMM (holistic margin management) business model and marketing initiatives to drive increases in per capita consumption.

“Our global brands — Cheerios, Nesquik, Fitness, Chocapic — have driven 80% of our growth in the last four years. We also have strong regional brands like Shredded Wheat, Shreddies and Milo.”

Mr. O’Leary said CPW has intensified marketing efforts in emerging markets where the expansion of the middle class has made cereal a more affordable breakfast for consumers.

Also offering opportunities for growth will be communicating the health and nutrition benefits of ready-to-eat cereal, Mr. O’Leary said. In many instances, this communication means comparing R-T-E cereal with traditional breakfast options, he said.

“We are also advertising our whole grain advantage and specific benefits like calcium and iron,” Mr. O’Leary said. “As consumers understand the benefits, we think more people will eat cereal and more often.

“There is a lot of upside here. Some markets have per capita consumption levels similar to what we see in the United States, but most other markets have a lot of room to grow.”

Looking forward, Mr. O’Leary said CPW hopes to reach US$2.8 billion in sales by 2015, up 40% from 2009. Operating profits should grow even faster than sales, he said.

General Mills chief executive officer Kendall J. Powell led off the CAGNY presentation noting that at the February 2008 CAGNY, the company had projected 2010 sales of US$14 billion and earnings of US$4.05 per share.

“Since then our business has shown accelerating growth, and we are on track to surpass our 2010 targets,” he said. “Net sales actually reached US$14.7 billion last year.”

Offering a forward look at General Mills financial expectations was Donal L. Mulligan, executive vice-president and chief financial officer .

From the base of US$14.7 billion last year, Mr. Mulligan forecast annual sales growth in the low single digits, reaching US$18 billion by 2015.

At the bottom line, he said General Mills expects earnings per share to grow at a high single-digit rate and will reach US$6.75 per share by 2010.

“That is a 9% compound annual growth rate from adjusted earnings per share of US$3.98 in fiscal 2009, and it represents 8% compound growth from the midpoint of our earnings per share guidance for fiscal 2010,” he said.

Companies Cereal Partners Worldwide, cereals, General Mills