MINNEAPOLIS — General Mills Inc.’s pricing and product moves in the back half of fiscal 2025 have laid the groundwork for bigger growth plans in its core North America Retail (NAR) business for fiscal 2026, according to the company.
“We plan to return North America Retail to volume growth by continuing to invest in remarkable experiences to strengthen pound share and household penetration for our brands,” Jeffrey Harmening, chairman and chief executive officer, said in reporting fiscal 2025 results. “We expect consumers to remain cautious and continue seeking value, prioritizing their spending on benefits that matter most to them — like protein, bold flavors and the comfort of familiar and fun brands and experiences.”
To that end, Minneapolis-based General Mills aims to continue driving cost savings to reinvest in its value proposition throughout fiscal 2026.
“We’ll invest in value this year across two-thirds of our NAR portfolio, addressing price gaps and cliffs on selected product lines within our top categories,” Harmening said. “This includes continuing the investments we made in fiscal ’25 in many areas and extending to targeted additional product lines in fiscal ’26, ensuring that we consistently deliver on the value consumers are seeking across our brands.”
General Mills also will have a lot more to say about its brands across the portfolio, especially on the new product front.
“We have significant product news across each of our top 10 US categories, compared to news on just 3 categories last year,” Harmening said. “And we expect to drive a 25% increase in sales from new products.”
Innovation in the spotlight
Harmening described General Mills as “uniquely suited to deliver great-tasting protein at an affordable price” because of its roster of iconic brands.
“Our plans in fiscal ’26 including expansion of Cheerios Protein, Annie’s Super! Mac and Nature Valley Protein Granola, as well as a new line of Nature Valley Creamy Protein Bars,” he said. “On bold flavors, we’re delivering exciting, taste-first news in fiscal ’26, including Progresso Pitmaster soups, Totino’s Ultimate pizza and rolls, Old El Paso Birria tacos and renovated, bold Chex Mix flavors. We’ll also deliver on consumers’ desire for familiar and fun moments meant to be enjoyed by the whole family, like Pillsbury ‘Big’ cookies, new Mott’s fruit-filled bars and Betty Crocker soft-baked cookies — all delivering great taste and great value.”
Cereal also will be a headliner for General Mills during the year as the company spotlights the “remarkability” of its brands, Harmening said.
“We’ll communicate value by highlighting for consumers that Nature Valley and Cheerios deliver great-tasting protein at an affordable price,” he said. “In fact, with Nature Valley Protein, Cheerios Protein and Ghost Protein, we now have a portfolio of protein cereals that generates more than $100 million in annual retail sales. We will ensure we have the right sizes and price points to deliver remarkable value for consumers. We have strong core news and new brand campaigns on Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Lucky Charms. And we plan to lead category innovation again in fiscal ’26 with compelling new products like a new cookies-and-cream variety of Cheerios Protein.”
In fiscal 2026, General Mills plans twice the price-pack architecture launches for North America Retail as last year.
| Photo: ©WILLIAM – STOCK.ADOBE.COMGeneral Mills’ approach already has paid dividends for Pillsbury and Totino’s, with Harmening noting the strides made by the refrigerated dough brand are particularly rewarding given its challenges in fiscal 2025.
“We were encouraged by Pillsbury’s strong improvement in volume in the second half of fiscal ’25, driven by improved value, great product news and increased media support featuring the Doughboy,” he said. “We’re continuing that playbook in fiscal ’26, bringing consumers more value by addressing key price gaps and by advertising behind our ‘Bakes Up Bigger’ news on cinnamon rolls, crescents and biscuits. And we’ll build on our cookie platform’s double-digit retail sales growth in fiscal ’25 with the launch of our new ‘Big’ cookies, bringing even more indulgence to the refrigerated dough case.”
More value-focused packs
General Mills, too, plans “twice the amount of price-pack architecture as last year” for NAR by leveraging its packaging capabilities to deliver new pack sizes and formats “that allow us to meet consumers in the right channels with the right packages at the right price point,” Harmening said.
“We have core news on our highly successful Old El Paso soup line, bringing consumers 30% more chicken on these great-tasting, bold-flavored, high-protein soups,” he said. “In fruit snacks, our business was challenged in fiscal ’25 by slower snacking category growth as well as increased competition from fruit-flavored candy. But we drove encouraging improvement in Q4, including pound share growth, by narrowing price gaps on key product lines while continuing to bring news to our differentiated portfolio. As we look to fiscal ’26, we’ll maintain our focus on value by addressing value at the shelf and by expanding our sizes and formats.”
The NAR product news will be supported by increased media investment — including in retail media, to bolster General Mills’ online position — and “more impactful” in-store events.
“Overall, I’m encouraged by the strength of our plans in North America Retail,” Harmening said, “and I’m confident that our investment in more remarkable offerings will return this business to volume growth in fiscal ’26.”
