as nyse gis s & p 500 component industry food processing founded june 20 1856 ; 160 years ago 1856 06 20 minneapolis minnesota u.s. founders cadwallader c. washburn john crosby james ford bell headquarters golden valley minnesota united states area served worldwide key people kendall j. powell chairman and ceo products baking mixes breakfast cereals yogurt refrigerated dough soup pizza snack foods ice cream soy products vegetables flour and other food products revenue us 16.6 billion fy 2016 1 operating income us 2.7 billion fy 2016 1 profit us 1.7 billion fy 2016 1 total assets us 21.7 billion fy 2016 1 total equity us 4.9 billion fy 2016 1 number of employees 39 000 2014 1 website www.generalmills.com general mills inc. is an american multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded consumer foods sold through retail stores . it is headquartered in golden valley minnesota a suburb of minneapolis . the company markets many well known north american brands such as betty crocker yoplait colombo totino s pillsbury green giant old el paso h agen dazs cheerios trix cocoa puffs and lucky charms . its brand portfolio includes more than 89 other leading u.s. brands and numerous category leaders around the world . 2 contents 1 history 1.1 washburn crosby company 1.2 founding 1.3 merchandising and television sponsorships 1.4 aeronautical research division and electronics division 1.5 more diversification toys and restaurants 1.6 recent history 1.7 engineering milestones 2 corporate governance 3 change to legal terms 4 company brands 4.1 breakfast cereals 4.1.1 discontinued cereals 4.2 baking goods 4.3 grain snacks 4.4 meal products 4.5 organic food 4.6 other brands 5 company locations 6 see also 7 references 8 external links history edit advertisement late 1880s washburn crosby company edit the company can trace its history to the minneapolis milling company incorporated in 1856 . 3 the company was founded by illinois congressman robert smith who leased power rights to mills operating along the west side of the saint anthony falls on the mississippi river on the outskirts of minneapolis minnesota . cadwallader c. washburn acquired the company shortly after its founding and hired his brother william d. washburn to assist in the company s development . in 1866 the washburns got into the business themselves building the washburn b mill at the falls . at the time the building was considered to be so large and output so vast that it could not possibly sustain itself . however the company succeeded and in 1874 he built the even bigger washburn a mill . in 1877 the mill entered a partnership with john crosby to form the washburn crosby company producing winter wheat flour . that same year washburn sent william hood dunwoody to england to open the market for spring wheat . 4 dunwoody was successful and became a silent partner . in 1878 the a mill was destroyed in a flour dust explosion along with five nearby buildings . the ensuing fire led to the death of 18 workers . 5 construction of a new mill began immediately . not only was the new mill safer but it also was able to produce a higher quality flour after the old grinding stones were replaced with automatic steel rollers the first ever used . in 1880 washburn crosby flour brands won gold silver and bronze medals at the millers international exhibition in cincinnati causing them to launch the gold medal flour brand . 6 in 1924 the company stepped in to take over a failing twin cities radio station wlag renaming it wcco from washburn crosby company . founding edit general mills itself was created in june 1928 7 when washburn crosby president james ford bell directed his company to merge with 26 other mills . in 1928 general mills acquired the wichita mill and elevator company of the industrialist frank kell of wichita falls texas . with the sale kell acquired cash plus stock in the corporation . 8 postcard image of the gold medal flour factory in minneapolis around 1900 merchandising and television sponsorships edit beginning in 1929 general mills products contained box top coupons known as betty crocker coupons with varying point values which were redeemable for discounts on a variety of housewares products featured in the widely distributed betty crocker catalog . the coupons and the catalog were discontinued by the company in 2006 . a similar program box tops for education in which coupon icons clipped off various general mills products can be redeemed by schools for cash started in 1996 and is still active . 9 general mills became the sponsor of the popular radio show the lone ranger in 1941 . the show was then brought to television and after 20 years their long term sponsorship came to an end in 1961 . former site of general mills today on the mississippi river at minneapolis beginning in 1959 general mills sponsored the rocky and his friends television series later known as the bullwinkle show . until 1968 rocky and bullwinkle were featured in a variety of advertisements for general mills . general mills was also a sponsor of the saturday morning cartoons from the total television productions studio including tennessee tuxedo . 10 the company also was a sponsor of the abc western series the life and legend of wyatt earp starring hugh o brian . aeronautical research division and electronics division edit in 1946 general mills established their aeronautical research division with chief engineer otto c. winzen . this division developed high altitude balloons in conjunction with the united states navy office of naval research onr such as the skyhook balloon . 11 the general mills electronics division developed the dsv alvin submersible which is notable for being used in investigating the wreck of the titanic among other deep sea exploration missions . 12 more diversification toys and restaurants edit the first venture general mills took into the toy industry was in 1965 . the company bought rainbow crafts which was the manufacturer of play doh . general mills purchase of the company was substantial because it brought production costs down and tripled the revenue . general mills came out with their monster cereals in the 1970s . the cereals are now produced and sold seasonally around halloween . 13 in 1970 general mills acquired a five unit restaurant company called red lobster and expanded it nationwide . soon a division of general mills titled general mills restaurants developed to take charge of the red lobster chain . in 1980 general mills acquired the california based good earth health food restaurant chain . 14 gm eventually converted the restaurants into other chain restaurants they were operating such as red lobster . 15 16 in 1982 general mills restaurants founded a new italian themed restaurant chain called olive garden . another themed restaurant china coast was added before the entire group was spun off to general mills shareholders in 1995 as darden restaurants . during the same decade general mills ventured further starting the general mills specialty retail group . they acquired two clothing and apparel companies talbots and eddie bauer . the acquisition was short lived . talbots was purchased by a japanese company then known as jusco and the spiegel company purchased bauer . spiegel later declared bankruptcy yet bauer still remains albeit in a smaller presence in the united states today . washburn a mill the producer of gold medal flour now the minnesota historical society mill city museum from 1976 to 1985 general mills went to court as the parent company of parker brothers which held the rights on the brand name and gaming idea of the board game monopoly claiming that the so called anti monopoly game of an economics professor infringed their trademark . the dispute extended up to the u.s. supreme court which ruled against them saying that while they have exclusive rights to the game monopoly they can not prevent others from using the word monopoly in the name of a game . in 1985 general mills toy division was separated from its parent as kenner parker toys inc. there were many potential acquirers of the business but it was floated on the stock exchange with general mills shareholders getting equivalent shares in kenner parker . this was more tax efficient for general mills . 17 recent history edit in 1990 a joint venture with nestl s.a. called cereal partners was formed 18 which markets cereals including many existing general mills cereal brands outside the us and canada under the nestl name . in 2001 the company purchased pillsbury from diageo although it was officially described as a merger . since 2004 general mills has been producing more products targeted to the growing ranks of health conscious consumers . the company has chosen to switch its entire breakfast cereal line to whole grain . according to nutritionists whole grains are a much healthier choice when choosing grain products . the company also started manufacturing their child targeted cereals with less sugar . 19 20 general mills has reduced the level of sugar to all cereals advertised to children to 11 grams per serving . 21 the company s recent marketing to children included the advergame millsberry a virtual city that included games featuring general mills products . the site launched in august 2004 and ran through december 2010 . citation needed in april 2011 general mills announced that it will switch all 1 million eggs it uses each year to cage free . 22 general mills was ranked 181 on the 2012 fortune 500 list of america s largest corporations 23 161 in 2015 and was the third largest food consumer products company in the united states . 24 during june 2012 the company s vice president for diversity stated that general mills opposes a minnesota amendment banning gay marriage stating that the company values inclusion . 25 the company received positive feedback for its stand which might attract people to its global workforce . 26 the company announced in september 2014 that it would acquire organic food producer annie s inc. for a fee of around 820 million as part of its strategy to expand in the us natural foods market . 27 in october 2014 general mills announced plans to cut 700 to 800 jobs mostly in u.s. in corporate restructuring planned to be completed by the end of 2015 . 28 in 2015 citing climate change general mills promised to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 28 percent over 10 years . 29 30 engineering milestones edit general mills corporate campus in golden valley minnesota . 1930s general mills engineer thomas r. james creates the puffing gun which inflates or distorts cereal pieces into puffed up shapes . this new technology was used in 1937 to create kix cereal and in 1941 to create cheerioats known today as cheerios . 1939 general mills engineer helmer anderson creates the anderson sealer . this new device allowed for bags of flour to be sealed with glue instead of just being tied with a string . 1956 general mills creates the tear strip for easily opening packages corporate governance edit as of april 2010 update the company s management included 31 kendall j. powell chief executive officer ; chairman of the board y. marc belton executive vice president worldwide health brand and new business development john church senior vice president supply chain jacqueline r. williams roll senior vice president global human resources peter c. erickson senior vice president innovation technology and quality ian r. friendly executive vice president ; chief operating officer u.s. retail donal l. mulligan executive vice president ; chief financial officer christopher d. o leary executive vice president ; chief operating officer international roderick a. palmore executive vice president ; general counsel chief compliance and risk management officer jeffrey j. rotsch executive vice president worldwide sales and channel development christina l. shea senior vice president external relations ; president general mills