General Mills, Inc. (GIS) CEO Jeff Harmening presents at Barclays Global Consumer Staples Conference (Transcript)

Company and Industry Overview * Company: General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) * Industry: Consumer Staples, specifically Cereals, Snacks, and Pet Food Long-Term Goals and Strategy * Long-Term Sales Growth: Aim for 2% to 3% organic net sales growth. * Category Growth: Expect categories to grow between 2% and 3%. * Share Holding: Confident in holding or gaining share in current categories. * Key Drivers: Leading brands, increased marketing spend, and improved capabilities in strategic revenue management, media, and online media. Industry Environment and Recovery * Volume Recovery: Recognize a more elongated volume recovery than initially expected. * Fiscal '25 Outlook: Consistent with gradual progress theme, expecting flat-to-up 1% organic sales growth and EPS between down 1% and up 1% year-over-year. * Category Growth: Categories returning to growth, with pounds up 1% in the last three months. * Macroeconomic Factors: Inflation expected at 3% to 4%, with over 50% coverage in commodities. * Productivity: Expect 4% to 5% productivity improvement. North America Retail * Leadership: Dana McNabb, Group President, North America Retail. * Approach: Focus on regaining household penetration, particularly with kids, through a remarkable total product offering. * Key Initiatives: Product innovation, advertising and communications, in-store execution, and strategic revenue management. * Share Performance: Improving in pound share in seven out of 10 biggest categories and in dollar share in six out of 10 categories. Cereal Business * Category: North America Cereal market is $9 billion in sales. * **Competitive Landscape**: More competition is seen as beneficial for the category. * **Focus**: Continue to focus on strong brand building and innovation. * **New Products**: Launched new products like double chocolate cookies, fruity cheerios, and Fiber One brownies. Pet Food * **Priority**: Return Blue Buffalo to growth after a reset year in fiscal '24. * **Performance**: Blue Buffalo is now more profitable than a year ago and starting to gain market share in dry dog food. * **Wilderness**: Losses cut in half and declining at 6$1 billion to $2 billion in sales, with a preference for areas like Pet, Snacking, and Foodservice. * Priority: Organic growth remains the number one priority. Conclusion General Mills is confident in its long-term growth prospects, focusing on category growth, share holding, and strategic investments in marketing and capabilities. The company is also actively managing its international and foodservice segments, while remaining cautious on M&A activity.