Takeaways From Brian Sozzi Interview With General Mills U.S. Chief

Brian Sozzi of Belus Capital Advisors recently interviewed General Mills' GIS Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of U.S. Retail Business Jeff Harmening for an article on The Street. Harmening told Sozzi that the company continues to capitalize on changing consumer values as consumers want “harder-working calories.” The company is following up on successful products including Cheerios Protein, new flavors of Greek Yoplait yogurt, quinoa-based clusters in Cheerios and Nature Valley nut cluster bars. General Mills continues to offer healthier cereals as iconic brands such as Cheerios and Cinnamon Toast Crunch are being updated to consumer preferences for health and wellness. As an example, the company launched in January Cheerios Ancient Grains while more cinnamon was recently added to Cinnamon Toast Crunch, resulting in “impressive” sales. Also, General Mills introduced re-sealable plastic packages for its granola instead of cardboard boxes. According to Harmening “people want food that is unprocessed, and one way you can do that is to show them through more clear packaging.” Sozzi does note that General Mills along with its peer Kellogg's K find themselves “trapped in a slow-growth environment” as sales of breakfast cereals were set to decline by two percent in 2014. Moreover, retail value sales of breakfast cereals are expected to drop by eight percent overall at constant 2014 prices to reach $10.3 billion in 2018.