General Mills Releases 2012 Global Responsibility Report

General Mills is more than 50 percent of the way to achieving a 20 percent reduction in its water usage rate and a 50 percent reduction in its solid waste generation rate.

5 April 2012 --- General Mills has released its 2012 Global Responsibility Report, detailing the company’s progress in the areas of health, communities and environment. 

“Our approach to global responsibility is straightforward,” said Ken Powell, chairman and chief executive officer of General Mills. “It’s all about living our values. When a company’s values are in alignment with employees’ personal values, good things can happen. My hope is that our stakeholders will see our values reflected in this report – both in the company’s performance and in the stories behind the numbers.”

Highlights from General Mills’ efforts to nourish lives around the globe this past year include:
•  Reaching the halfway mark toward achieving three of the company’s 2015 global sustainability goals: water, solid waste and packaging. General Mills is more than 50 percent of the way to achieving a 20 percent reduction in its water usage rate and a 50 percent reduction in its solid waste generation rate.  In addition, the company has improved the packaging for 27 percent of its sales volume –more than halfway toward the 40 percent goal.
•  Leveraging Continuous Improvement and Holistic Margin Management to make General Mills’ plants more efficient and environmentally friendly. By eliminating non value-added processes, labor and materials, and focusing on what matters most to our consumers, these strategies have helped minimize cost, reduce waste and drive the company’s environmental performance – while helping to keep our products affordable for consumers.
•  Achieving a new record for improving the health profile of General Mills’ products.  The company improved the health profile of products representing nearly 25 percent of its U.S Retail product sales in fiscal 2011.  Since 2005, more than 600 of General Mills’ U.S. products have been nutritionally improved by adding whole grain, fiber or vitamins, reducing calories, fat, sugar or sodium or through other health enhancements.
•  Delivering more whole grain than any other single ingredient in every Big G cereal. Whole grain is now listed first on the ingredient panel of all Big G cereals, indicating that whole grain is the most prevalent ingredient. 
•  Expanding our commitment to fight hunger around the world.  General Mills championed hunger relief efforts from Minnesota to Malawi in fiscal 2011. The company contributed nearly $30 million in product donations to food banks and increased its hunger and nutrition wellness grants by more than 25 percent. Extending its global reach, General Mills launched Partners in Food Solutions, a hunger-fighting nonprofit organization that links the technical expertise of General Mills employees with small- and medium-sized food processors in Africa.
•  Hitting $1 billion in philanthropic giving. The General Mills Foundation has given $1 billion to charitable causes around the globe since its inception in 1954.  This includes a record-breaking fiscal 2011 donation totaling nearly $119 million.

General Mills’ 2012 Global Responsibility Report marks the first time the company has adopted the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines.  GRI is a globally recognized, standardized framework for reporting on environmental, social and governance performance.

The news came as General Mills was named in Forbes as “The Most Reputable Company in America,” recognizing the company’s strong global reputation.

Reputation Institute, in partnership with Forbes Media, yesterday released findings from their 2012 U.S. RepTrak Pulse, a study that measures the reputations of the 150 largest U.S. public companies. General Mills ranked No. 1 in the study, and saw its RepTrak score surge by 5.6 points this year.

“We sometimes refer to reputation as the immediate feeling that people have about a company when they hear the company’s name,” Anthony Johndrow, managing partner at Reputation Institute, told Forbes. “That feeling is based on both rational and emotional underlying causes, and influences how you act in support of that company as well as your purchasing decisions.”

Reputation Institute said General Mills scored No. 1 in citizenship, and scored in the top five in  products & services, governance, and leadership.

“We value our corporate reputation tremendously and we are constantly working to foster and honor the trust of our stakeholders,” said Ken Powell, chairman & CEO, General Mills.  “For General Mills, trust means delivering nutrition and value to our consumers through innovation, helping our customers grow, strengthening and engaging in our communities, operating sustainably and protecting the environment, as we invest in and develop our employees as leaders to grow our businesses around the world. We believe customers and consumers reward companies that operate with integrity and do what is right over the long-term — and that has long been core to General Mills’ DNA.” 

Overall, consumer products, food manufacturing, industrial products, computer, and transport and logistics companies scored highest in this year’s study.  Food companies scoring in the top ten include No. 1 General Mills, No. 2 Kraft, No. 4 Kellogg’s, No. 7 Coca-Cola and No. 9 Pepsi.

The recognition by Forbes and Reputation Institute follows many other honors for General Mills in the past year, including Forbes “World’s Most Innovative Companies,”  FORTUNE Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For,” and “Top Companies for Leaders,” Corporate Responsibility Magazine’s “100 Best Corporate Citizens,” Black Enterprise magazine’s “40 Best Companies for Diversity,” FORTUNE’s “America’s Most Admired Companies,” and many others.