General Mills, Inc. is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores.

Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company originally gained fame for being a large flour miller.

Today, the company markets many well-known North American brands, including Gold Medal flour, Annie's Homegrown, Lärabar, Cascadian Farm, Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Nature Valley, Totino's, Pillsbury, Old El Paso, Häagen-Dazs, as well as breakfast cereals under the General Mills name, including Cheerios, Wheaties, Chex, Lucky Charms, Trix, Cocoa Puffs, and the monster cereals.

[4] The company was founded by Illinois Congressman Robert Smith, who leased power rights to flour mills operating along the west side of Saint Anthony Falls on the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

In 1877, the mill entered a partnership with John Crosby to form the Washburn-Crosby Company, producing winter wheat flour.

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.

[8] In the 1930s, General Mills engineer, Thomas R. James, created the puffing gun, which inflated or distorted cereal pieces into puffed-up shapes.

[11] In 1956, hundreds of General Mills balloons carrying reconnaissance equipment were launched by the United States government under Project Genetrix to surveil Eastern bloc countries, in particular their nuclear capabilities.

[14] The General Mills Electronics division developed the DSV Alvin submersible, which is notable for being used in investigating the wreck of Titanic among other deep-sea exploration missions.

General Mills was also a sponsor of the Saturday-morning cartoons from the Total Television productions studio, including Tennessee Tuxedo.

[16] The company also was a sponsor of the ABC western series The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, starring Hugh O'Brian.

The company, along with its subsidiary The Program Exchange, backed DiC Entertainment in syndicating the Dennis the Menace animated series based on the comic strip of the same name created by Hank Ketcham in 1986.

[17] In 1970, General Mills acquired a five-unit restaurant company called Red Lobster and expanded it nationwide.

There were many potential acquirers of the business but it was floated on the stock exchange with General Mills's shareholders getting equivalent shares in Kenner Parker.

[26] General Mills was ranked #181 on the 2012 Fortune 500 list of America's largest corporations,[27] 161 in 2015 and was the third-largest food consumer products company in the United States.

[32] In 2015, citing climate change, General Mills promised to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 28 percent over 10 years.

[33][34] In December 2016, the company announced it would be restructuring, splitting into four business groups based on global region, and cutting as many as 600 jobs.

[45] On May 25, 2022, General Mills announced that it was selling its Hamburger Helper and Suddenly Salad businesses to Eagle Family Foods Group for $610 million.

Other company brands include Annie's, Blue Buffalo, Frescarini, Latina, Tiki Pets,[54] Totino's, Jeno's, Progresso, Colombo and Lärabar.

[55] General Mills brands no longer manufactured include: The company has been associated with social media campaigns and education of dieticians promoting the "anti-diet" movement.

[87][88] The change was made shortly after a judge's March 26, 2014, denial of a motion to dismiss a class action regarding the marketing of the company's Nature Valley brand products.

[93] On 12 February 2020, the United Nations published a database of companies doing business related in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as well as in the occupied Golan Heights.