The History of General Mills: From Flour to Fortune

In 1856, a flour mill on the west bank of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota began grinding wheat. The falls at St. Anthony provided water power; the fertile Great Plains to the west provided grain; the Great Lakes shipping routes provided access to eastern markets. The combination was commercially powerful, and the mill grew rapidly. A series of mergers and consolidations over the following six decades produced General Mills, Incorporated, formally established in 1928.

General Mills today is one of the world's largest food companies. For fiscal year 2025 (ended May 25, 2025), the company reported approximately $19.7 billion in net sales. It employs approximately 34,000 people and sells products in more than 100 countries. Its portfolio includes Cheerios, Wheaties, Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Nature Valley, Annie's, Larabar, Häagen-Dazs (outside the US and Canada, where Nestlé holds the rights), and Blue Buffalo pet food.

This post traces the journey from Minneapolis flour mill to diversified global food company, covering the key product launches, acquisitions, and strategic decisions that shaped the portfolio.

The Flour Milling Origins: 1856-1928

The history of General Mills begins with Cadwallader C. Washburn, a Wisconsin businessman who built a flour mill at St. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis in 1866. Together with John Crosby, he formed Washburn-Crosby Company in 1877. The company won gold, silver, and bronze medals at the Millers' International Exhibition of 1880, inspiring the Gold Medal Flour brand name that remains in the General Mills portfolio today.

Cadwallader's brother William Washburn built a competing mill nearby. The competition between the Washburn interests and other Minneapolis mills eventually gave way to consolidation. In 1928, the Washburn-Crosby Company merged with 28 other flour mills across the US Midwest to form General Mills, Incorporated, with James Ford Bell as the first CEO. The combined entity was immediately one of the largest flour milling operations in the United States.

From its founding, General Mills understood that milling alone was a commodity business with limited pricing power. The strategic priority from the 1920s onward was to move up the value chain by developing branded consumer products that would command premium pricing and build consumer loyalty.

The Radio Era and Betty Crocker

In 1921, Washburn-Crosby ran a promotional contest in which consumers submitted pictures of a completed jigsaw puzzle of a flour sack. The contest generated thousands of entries, many of which included questions about baking. The company decided it needed a female spokesperson to answer baking enquiries. A fictional persona named Betty Crocker was created, combining the surname of recently retired director William Crocker with the first name Betty, chosen because it sounded friendly.

Betty Crocker became one of the most effective brand personas in American marketing history. In 1924, Washburn-Crosby launched the Betty Crocker Cooking School of the Air, a radio programme that attracted millions of listeners. When a poll was conducted in 1945, Betty Crocker ranked as the second most recognised woman in America after Eleanor Roosevelt, despite not being a real person.

The Betty Crocker brand has since extended from flour into baking mixes, cookbooks, cake decorating products, and digital recipe platforms. The brand's signature red spoon logo has appeared on hundreds of products over its century of commercial life.

Cheerios and the Cereal Business

General Mills entered the breakfast cereal category in 1941 with the launch of Cheerioats, subsequently renamed Cheerios in 1945. Cheerios was the first ready-to-eat oat cereal, made from whole grain oats with a ring shape that children found appealing. The brand was also positioned as heart-healthy due to the beta-glucan fibre content of oats.

Cheerios grew to become the best-selling breakfast cereal in the United States by the 1990s, a position it has maintained into the 2020s. Its success launched General Mills into aggressive cereal development. The subsequent decades brought Lucky Charms (1964), Cocoa Puffs (1958), Trix (1954), Golden Grahams (1975), Honey Nut Cheerios (1979), and Cinnamon Toast Crunch (1984).

The cereal category also generated General Mills' most enduring brand identity: Wheaties, "The Breakfast of Champions," launched in 1922, which built a 100-year tradition of featuring prominent athletes on its packaging, including Jesse Owens, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Simone Biles.

General Mills and Kellogg's effectively split the US breakfast cereal market between them for most of the 20th century, a duopoly that has been challenged in recent years by private label cereals and the broader decline of the breakfast cereal category as consumer eating habits shift.

The Pillsbury Acquisition and Expansion Beyond Cereal

In 2001, General Mills completed the acquisition of The Pillsbury Company from Diageo for approximately $10.4 billion in stock and assumed debt. Pillsbury, founded in Minneapolis in 1869 by Charles Alfred Pillsbury, had been one of General Mills' oldest flour-milling competitors before being acquired by Grand Metropolitan (later Diageo) in 1989.

• Pillsbury refrigerated dough products (biscuits, crescent rolls, cookies), the leading brand in the US refrigerated dough category
• Green Giant vegetables, one of the most recognised vegetable brands in the United States
• Haagen-Dazs (US and Canadian rights, which remained with Nestlé globally)
• Old El Paso Mexican food products
• Totino's frozen pizza and pizza rolls
• Progresso soups

The deal made General Mills the fifth-largest food company in the United States at closing and significantly diversified its revenue base beyond cereal.

Yoplait and International Yogurt

General Mills acquired the US licence for Yoplait yogurt in 1977 from Sodima, the French dairy cooperative that owned the brand. The Yoplait brand, characterised by its distinctive fruity flavours and foil-topped cups, grew to become the second-largest yogurt brand in the United States.

In 2011, General Mills acquired a 51% majority stake in Sodima's international Yoplait business for approximately $1.2 billion, converting the licence into partial ownership of the global brand. Yoplait operates in approximately 50 countries through a combination of General Mills ownership and franchised arrangements with local dairy producers.

The Natural and Organic Pivot: 2010s

Responding to consumer demand for natural and organic food products, General Mills made a series of acquisitions in the premium natural food segment:

Annie's Homegrown (2014): Acquired for approximately $820 million. Annie's makes organic macaroni and cheese, crackers, granola bars, and other natural food products positioned at health-conscious families.

Epic Provisions (2016): Acquired for an undisclosed sum. Epic makes meat-based protein bars and snacks positioned in the premium health food segment.

Larabar (previously owned): The simple-ingredient date-and-nut energy bar brand, acquired in 2008.

Nature Valley: Originally developed internally, Nature Valley granola bars were launched in 1975 and have grown to become one of the best-selling snack bar brands in the United States.

Blue Buffalo: Entering the Pet Food Category

In April 2018, General Mills completed the acquisition of Blue Buffalo Pet Products for approximately $8 billion, the largest acquisition in the company's history. Blue Buffalo makes premium pet food under the Blue brand, positioned as a natural, ingredient-conscious alternative to mainstream brands from Purina and Iams.

The pet food category has been among the fastest-growing segments of the consumer packaged goods market as pet ownership increased and humanisation of pets drove consumers toward higher-priced, premium products. Blue Buffalo's revenue was approximately $1.3 billion at the time of acquisition.

The acquisition significantly altered General Mills' financial profile, adding a high-margin pet food business in a category with strong structural growth trends. Blue Buffalo competes with Nestlé Purina and Mars Petcare in the premium US pet food market.

General Mills Today

General Mills' portfolio in 2026 spans five major categories:

• North America Retail: Cheerios, Wheaties, Lucky Charms, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Bisquick, Gold Medal Flour, Old El Paso, Progresso, Totino's, Yoplait, Nature Valley, Larabar, Annie's
• International: Häagen-Dazs (outside US/Canada), Yoplait, Old El Paso, Wanchai Ferry dumplings
• Pet: Blue Buffalo, Blue Wilderness, Blue Life Protection Formula, True Chews
• Foodservice: Institutional sales of many retail brands plus dedicated foodservice lines
• Away From Home: Contract supply to restaurants and institutions

Explore Related Content

• General Mills - Full company profile and brand index
• Kellogg's - Primary cereal category competitor
• Nestlé - Competitor in ice cream and pet food
• How Nestlé Went From Baby Milk to Global Empire - Related brand history post
• The Origins of P&G: From Candles to Billion-Dollar Brands - Related brand history post
• Who Owns the Breakfast Cereal Industry - Related category ownership post

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Sources

1. General Mills Annual Report FY2025 — https://investors.generalmills.com/financial-information/annual-reports 2. NYSE: GIS Company Profile — https://www.nyse.com 3. General Mills History — https://www.generalmills.com/our-company/history 4. Wikidata: General Mills — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q210064 5. SEC EDGAR: General Mills 10-K — https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar 6. Reuters: General Mills Blue Buffalo acquisition — https://www.reuters.com

All brand ownership data verified through WhoBrands.com research. Last verified: March 2026.