General Mills Logo — General Mills is a U.S. based in Golden Valley (Minnesota, USA) specializing in agribusiness. This is the sixth food group worldwide with a portfolio of over 100 brands, including many leading brands in their markets. On the French market, France General Mills markets the Häagen-Dazs, Green Giant and Old El Paso.

The company history dates back to 1866, with the creation by Cadwallader Washburn’s first mill in Minneapolis, on the banks of the Mississippi. In 1869, Charles Pillsbury is investing in the market for flour, and take shares in a mill in Minneapolis with his brother and uncle. Charles Pillsbury affix four “X” and the words “Best” on its bags of flour, to highlight the quality of its products.

In 1877, Cadwallader Washburn creates a partnership with John Crosby to form the Washburn-Crosby Company. The same year, William Hood Dunwoody Washburn sends to England to open the market for spring wheat. In 1878, a violent explosion destroyed the mill “Washburn Crosby A”. To replace it, a revolutionary new mill is built, safer and allowing the production of flour of even higher quality. For the first time in the world, the traditional stone grinding wheels are replaced by metal rollers automatic, capable of producing a more nutritious meal.

The company continues to expand, including the awarding of the gold medal at the first World Exposition of the Millers, and with the construction in 1904 of a new mill at the forefront of modernity, in the city of Buffalo. In 1921, the pen name “Betty Crocker” was created to respond to e-consumers of the Washburn-Crosby Company. A few years later begin distributing coupons Betty Crocker, offering discounts apply on many products from a catalog, which does not expire until 2006. In 1928, the group took its current name from General Mills when President James Ford Bell operates a merger with another 26 mills. General Mills in 1941 became the sponsor of a popular radio show in the U.S., the Lone Ranger. It will then be adapted for television, and the partnership lasted until 1961.

In 2001, General Mills merged with Pillsbury. While some brands already contain whole grains, the company decided in 2004 to produce its full range of breakfasts made ​​from whole grains, their positive impact on health has been demonstrated by studies. Since then, the group manufactures many products for health conscious consumers, the sector is booming. General Mills also produces less sweet cereals, for children.

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