General Mills, Inc. (GIS): PESTLE Analysis [Nov-2025 Updated]

You're looking for a clear-eyed view of General Mills, Inc. (GIS) in late 2025, and honestly, the picture is a mix of strong strategic pivots and real macroeconomic headwinds. They finished fiscal year 2025 with net sales of $19.5 billion, down 2%, but their focus on pet food and digital supply chain resilience is defintely the right long-term move. The challenge isn't just selling cereal; it's navigating a world where tariffs, AI, and consumer health trends are all moving targets, so let's map out the external forces that matter most to your investment thesis.

Political Factors: Volatility and Trade Friction

The political environment creates genuine supply chain headaches for General Mills, Inc. Shifting US tariff policies, for example, inject a ton of volatility into global sourcing and cost structures. Plus, ongoing global conflicts and political unrest in key regions mean international market stability is never a given. On the domestic front, the company is actively involved in industry lobbying, specifically pushing back against proposed new FDA 'healthy' food labeling standards that could redefine a significant portion of their product portfolio. Also, keep a close eye on corporate tax legislation and foreign exchange regulations, as any change here directly impacts their bottom line and repatriation strategy.

Economic Factors: Margin Pressure and Strategic Cost

The numbers from fiscal year 2025 tell a story of volume contraction. Net sales decreased 2% to $19.5 billion, reflecting lower overall volume, and adjusted operating profit was $3.4 billion, a 7% drop in constant currency. Input cost inflation is the persistent ghost in the room, constantly pressuring gross margins. Consumers are aggressively value-seeking right now, which is why North America Retail sales declined by 5% in FY2025. Honestly, the biggest near-term risk is their strategic investment plan: General Mills, Inc. expects brand building costs to lower their FY2026 adjusted Earnings Per Share (EPS) by 10% to 15%. That's the cost of staying relevant, but it hurts the immediate returns.

Sociological Factors: The Health and Value Dilemma

Consumer preferences are fundamentally shifting, and General Mills, Inc. has to adapt quickly. There's a clear move toward health-conscious and sustainable food options, which puts pressure on their legacy ultra-processed food (UPF) brands. At the same time, economic pressure drives value-seeking behavior, increasing demand for affordable at-home meal solutions over dining out. This is a mixed signal, but the growing public concern over UPFs, amplified by media focus, is a major headwind. Weight loss trends and health-related perceptions are now major factors influencing product demand, making product reformulation a strategic necessity, not just a marketing choice.

Technological Factors: AI for Efficiency and Waste Reduction

General Mills, Inc. is making smart, heavy bets on technology. They've doubled their investment in Digital, Data, and Technology since 2019 to build a robust digital infrastructure. The payoff is starting to show: they are deploying Generative AI for supply chain digitization and procurement. Here's the quick math: AI-driven pilot programs have already realized over 30% waste reduction in specific procurement functions. They're even building a digital twin of the entire supply chain with Palantir's AI platform for real-time, predictive decision-making. This focus on digital resilience is a critical competitive advantage against persistent inflation and supply disruptions.

Legal Factors: Litigation and Regulatory Headwinds

The legal landscape is getting much tougher, especially around food marketing. General Mills, Inc. is facing heightened litigation risk over ultra-processed food (UPF) marketing and addiction claims-a new and costly front in food law. New state laws, such as California's Real Food, Healthy Kids Act, are actively phasing out UPFs in school meals, which shrinks a reliable market segment. Plus, compliance with global data privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA is a continuous, non-negotiable operational cost. Any changes to food labeling and advertising standards present an ongoing regulatory risk that requires constant legal vigilance.

Environmental Factors: Aggressive Sustainability Commitments

General Mills, Inc. has set clear, ambitious environmental goals that impact capital expenditure and operations. They are committed to achieving Zero Waste to Landfill at all owned facilities by the end of 2025. Also by 2025, they aim for no deforestation across key supply chains like palm oil and soy. Their regenerative agriculture program is advancing on 600,000 acres of farmland, with a target of 1 million acres by 2030. Finally, they have a goal to design 100% of their packaging to be recyclable or reusable by 2030. These commitments are expensive, but they are crucial for maintaining brand equity and meeting stakeholder demands.

General Mills, Inc. (GIS) - PESTLE Analysis: Political factors

Shifting US tariff policies create volatility and uncertainty in global supply chains.

The US trade policy environment in 2025 created significant volatility for General Mills' supply chain and input costs. In April 2025, a broad policy shift introduced a 10% baseline tariff on nearly all imported goods, with rates escalating up to 46% for certain nations deemed 'protectionist'. This initial policy framework immediately signaled higher costs, with early analyst data suggesting it could raise food prices by up to 25% across the supply chain.

However, the political pressure from rising consumer grocery costs-US food-at-home inflation was stubbornly high at around 2.7% year-on-year in September 2025-forced a dramatic reversal. By mid-November 2025, the administration rolled back tariffs on over 200 food and agricultural products, including staples like beef, coffee, and tropical fruits, which the US cannot produce domestically in sufficient quantities. This rapid policy pivot from broad tariffs to targeted exemptions in a seven-month span forces you to manage extreme cost uncertainty. It's a rollercoaster, but the November rollback offers near-term relief on key commodity inputs.

Global conflicts and political unrest pose risks to international market stability.

General Mills' exposure to geopolitical risk is concentrated but real, given that the Non-United States segment accounted for $3.71 billion, or 19.02%, of its total net sales of $19.49 billion in fiscal year 2025. The company explicitly cites 'political unrest in foreign markets and economic uncertainty due to terrorism or war' as a material risk in its regulatory filings.

The International segment's performance in fiscal 2025 reflects this instability. Organic net sales for the segment were down 2% through the first nine months of the fiscal year. Specific market declines were noted in high-potential regions like China and Brazil. Plus, foreign currency exchange rates created a 2-point headwind for International net sales through the first nine months of fiscal 2025.

Here's the quick math on the International segment's core challenge:

Industry lobbying efforts against new FDA 'healthy' food labeling standards continue.

The political fight over what constitutes a 'healthy' food product reached a critical point in 2025. The food industry, including General Mills, has been aggressively lobbying against the 2022 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rule that would update the definition of 'healthy' by setting strict limits on added sugars, sodium, and saturated fats. General Mills previously argued the proposed rule was 'overly restrictive' and would 'disqualify many grain foods, including the overwhelming majority of the ready-to-eat cereals on the market'.

The industry's lobbying efforts, which saw the Consumer Brands Association spend more than $2 million in 2025 on labeling and other regulatory issues, paid off in late 2025. A November 2025 executive order suspended the enforcement of several regulatory rules, including the 'healthy' food labeling standard, providing a temporary reprieve. This political intervention saves the company billions in potential reformulation and rebranding costs for its core cereal and snack lines, but the regulatory risk is only suspended, not eliminated.

Increased scrutiny on corporate tax legislation and foreign exchange regulations.

Corporate tax policy saw major legislative action in mid-2025 with the signing of the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' in July 2025, which permanently modified key international tax provisions from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). For a multinational like General Mills, the most immediate impact is on foreign earnings.

Key tax changes that affect your international profit structure include:

• The effective tax rate on Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income (GILTI) was permanently modified to 12.6%, which is higher than the rate that would have applied under prior law.
• The Base Erosion and Anti-Abuse Tax (BEAT) rate is set to increase from 10% to 10.5% for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025.
• The law also made permanent the allowance for domestic research and development (R&D) expensing.

On the foreign exchange front, while the International segment's net sales were negatively impacted by a 2-point unfavorable foreign currency exchange through the first nine months of fiscal 2025, the company's fiscal 2026 outlook projects that foreign currency exchange will not have a material impact on adjusted operating profit or adjusted diluted EPS growth. This suggests that while currency fluctuations are a constant political-economic factor, General Mills' hedging strategies are expected to largely neutralize the FX impact on bottom-line profit going forward.

General Mills, Inc. (GIS) - PESTLE Analysis: Economic factors

You are looking at the economic landscape for a consumer staples giant, and what you see for General Mills, Inc. (GIS) in Fiscal Year 2025 is a classic tale of persistent inflation and a highly cautious consumer. The core takeaway is that the company is actively trading short-term profit for long-term volume growth, a necessary but painful move in this economic cycle.

The headline numbers for FY2025 show the strain. Total net sales for the year came in at $19.5 billion, a decrease of 2% from the prior year, primarily reflecting lower volume as consumers pulled back on purchases. This volume decline is the direct result of a value-seeking consumer environment, where shoppers are trading down to private-label brands or simply buying less.

Here's the quick math on profitability: Adjusted operating profit for FY2025 was $3.4 billion, which translates to a 7% decline in constant currency. This drop is a clear signal that the company's pricing actions were not fully able to offset the twin pressures of higher input costs and lower sales volume. It's a tough environment where margins get squeezed from both sides.

Fiscal 2025 net sales decreased 2% to $19.5 billion, reflecting lower volume

The economic reality of 2025 for General Mills was a contraction in top-line revenue. Net sales of $19.5 billion were down 2% year-over-year. This isn't just a pricing issue; it's a volume problem, meaning people bought fewer boxes of cereal and fewer bags of pet food. Organic net sales, which strips out the impact of acquisitions and divestitures, were also down 2%.

This is a critical indicator for a packaged food company. When consumers face persistent inflation across all categories, they start making hard choices at the grocery shelf. General Mills' strategy must now pivot from price-led growth to volume-led growth to get back on track.

Adjusted operating profit for FY2025 was $3.4 billion, down 7% in constant currency

The adjusted operating profit decline of 7% in constant currency, settling at $3.4 billion for FY2025, highlights the severity of the margin pressure. The company's adjusted operating profit margin was down 90 basis points to 17.2%. The main culprits were lower adjusted gross profit dollars and higher selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) expenses, the latter a sign of increased investment to stabilize market share.

Input cost inflation remains a persistent pressure on gross margins

Input cost inflation is defintely not a new story, but it remains a persistent and elevated pressure. Gross margin for FY2025 was down 30 basis points to 34.6% of net sales. This erosion is primarily due to the rising costs of raw materials, energy, and logistics, only partially offset by the company's Holistic Margin Management (HMM) cost savings program.

To give you a sense of the cumulative impact, General Mills has faced an internal cost increase of approximately 32% over the three years leading up to early 2025. This is far above the pre-pandemic norm of 2% to 3% annual increases.

Consumers are value-seeking, driving a decline in North America Retail sales by 5% in FY2025

The clearest evidence of the value-seeking consumer is in the North America Retail segment, which is General Mills' largest division. Net sales for this segment were down 5% for the full year, totaling $11.9 billion. This decline was driven by lower pound volume and unfavorable net price realization and mix, meaning consumers were either buying less or shifting to lower-priced items within the portfolio.

This is where the rubber meets the road. When the economy is tight, consumers prioritize value, forcing companies like General Mills to increase promotional activity and invest in price to maintain market share, which in turn compresses margins.

Strategic investments in brand building are expected to lower FY2026 adjusted EPS by 10% to 15%

Looking ahead, General Mills is making a deliberate choice to invest its way back to volume growth, even if it hurts the bottom line in the near term. The company's full-year fiscal 2026 outlook projects that adjusted diluted Earnings Per Share (EPS) will be down 10% to 15% in constant currency from the FY2025 base of $4.21.

This expected decline is a direct consequence of planned strategic investments aimed at restoring volume-driven organic sales growth. These investments include:

• Increased spending on consumer value and pricing strategies.
• Higher marketing and brand building media investment.
• Significant strategic investment to launch Blue Buffalo into the U.S. fresh pet food sub-category.

What this estimate hides is that the 10% to 15% EPS reduction also accounts for approximately 5% of headwinds from the net impact of divestitures and acquisitions, plus an additional 3% from a reset of the corporate incentive structure. The company is betting that this short-term profit hit will pay off in stronger, more sustainable volume growth starting in the back half of FY2026.

General Mills, Inc. (GIS) - PESTLE Analysis: Social factors

Consumer demand is shifting toward health-conscious and sustainable food options.

You are seeing a clear, accelerating shift in what consumers are willing to pay for, moving past just price and taste to prioritize health and environmental impact. This isn't a niche trend; it's a structural change, especially among younger buyers. For General Mills, this means a constant need to reformulate and innovate away from legacy products that don't fit the new narrative.

The company is responding by focusing on ingredients like Kernza, a perennial grain that supports regenerative agriculture. General Mills has quadrupled its use of Kernza across four Cascadian Farm cereals in 2025. This focus on sustainability is defintely a strategic move, as the 2025 Consumer Food Trends Report showed that 41% of Gen Z consumers are willing to pay an extra 6-10% for sustainable products. The market is telling us that purpose-driven brands can command a premium, which is critical when the core North America Retail segment is struggling with volume.

Value-seeking behavior increases demand for at-home meal solutions over dining out.

The macroeconomic backdrop of elevated grocery inflation and general uncertainty is pushing consumers to seek value, which manifests as a trade-down effect. People are cooking at home more, but they are also scrutinizing every dollar spent in the grocery aisle. This is a double-edged sword for General Mills.

While the overall trend favors at-home consumption-a core strength for a packaged food company-it simultaneously fuels competition from lower-cost private label brands, particularly in categories like cereal and pet food. This pressure contributed to General Mills' full-year fiscal 2025 organic net sales declining by 2% to $19.5 billion. To counter this, the company is increasing investment in 'consumer value' and is also adapting its packaging strategy. They are expanding the selection of smaller packs and portions, which directly appeals to smaller, budget-conscious households. Here's the quick math on the core retail pressure:

Growing public concern and media focus on the health risks of ultra-processed foods (UPFs).

The scrutiny on ultra-processed foods (UPFs) is a major headwind because many of General Mills' heritage products, like certain cereals and snacks, fall into this category. The public conversation is intense, driven by media and health advocates who link UPFs to rising obesity rates-nearly 43% of American adults are considered obese.

To be fair, the industry got a temporary reprieve when the U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee for the 2025-2030 guidelines chose not to issue a formal warning against UPFs, citing a lack of a clear, single definition. But this is a temporary political win, not a social one. Consumer perception is already shifting, forcing the company to invest in product news and innovation to highlight any positive nutritional attributes and defend its categories.

Weight loss trends and health-related perceptions are major factors influencing product demand.

The most disruptive social trend right now is the rapid adoption of GLP-1 agonist weight-loss drugs (e.g., Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro). These drugs fundamentally change eating habits by suppressing appetite and dampening overall calorie consumption. This is a direct threat to a volume-driven business model.

General Mills is strategically adapting, betting that a leaner consumer base will demand more nutrient-dense foods for satiety, specifically high in protein and fiber. They are actively targeting these consumers, and the early results show traction:

• Progresso Soup buy-rates among GLP-1 users are up 5%.
• Fiber One bars buy-rates among GLP-1 users are up 20%.
• New product launches like Cheerios Protein and Nature Valley creamy protein bars are specifically designed to meet this demand.

The company is also wisely overlapping this strategy with the 55+ consumer demographic, which drives almost half of total food and beverage spend and has similar needs for protein and portion control. This is a smart action to mitigate the risk of a volume decline by focusing on value-added, premium nutrition.

General Mills, Inc. (GIS) - PESTLE Analysis: Technological factors

Doubled Investment in Digital Infrastructure

You want to know where General Mills is putting its money to stay ahead, and the answer is clear: digital infrastructure. The company has doubled its investment in Digital, Data, and Technology since 2019, a massive step to build a world-class digital foundation. This isn't just about buying new servers; it's about transforming the entire enterprise. The goal is to move beyond simply reacting to market shifts and instead, use data to anticipate them, driving growth and profitability.

This investment is part of the 'Accelerate' strategy, and it's paying off in real dollars. For instance, the company predicts that real-time performance data in manufacturing alone will produce more than $50 million in waste reduction this fiscal year. Here's the quick math on the immediate impact of this digital push:

• AI-driven logistics savings since FY24: Over $20 million.
• Fiscal 2025 Capital Investments: Totaled $625 million.
• Focus areas: Data-driven marketing, strategic revenue management, and supply chain digitization.

Generative AI for Supply Chain Digitization and Procurement

The most exciting technological leap is the deployment of Generative AI (Artificial Intelligence) to digitize the supply chain and procurement functions. General Mills is using an intelligent execution system called ELF (End to End Logistics Flow), which was developed in collaboration with Palantir. This system is fundamentally changing how raw material and logistics decisions are made, shifting from an episodic, reactive model to an 'always-on' one.

The AI's job is to consume real-time data-everything from commodity costs to weather patterns-to identify cost gaps in ingredients and packaging materials. This dynamic procurement model allows for real-time adjustments, which is defintely a game-changer in a volatile market.

AI-Driven Pilot Programs Realized Over 30% Waste Reduction

The results from the initial AI-driven pilot programs are not marginal; they are substantial. By combining enhanced datasets within the procurement function, the pilot realized more than 30% waste reduction in specific areas. The success of this approach is leading to a global rollout across more of the company's procurement and supply chain processes.

The immediate, tangible savings are impressive. The ELF system, even while only partially deployed across the network, is currently saving approximately $40,000 per day, which annualizes to about $14 million. This is a clear example of technology translating directly into margin expansion.

The system is so effective that over 70% of the AI-generated recommendations are accepted by the human operators, a sign that the machine is consistently matching or exceeding human decision-making capability.

Building a Digital Twin of the Supply Chain with Palantir

To manage its complex operations, General Mills is building a digital twin (a virtual replica) of its entire supply chain using Palantir's AI Platform (AIP). This digital twin is the core of the intelligent execution layer, designed to handle the sheer volume of daily operational choices.

Consider the scope of the problem this technology is solving:

The digital twin consumes real-time data on constraints, capacity, and network cost, allowing the company to make decisions in minutes instead of days. This speed is critical for mitigating supplier disruptions and adapting to changing market dynamics, giving General Mills a significant operational advantage in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) sector.

Next step: Finance needs to model the projected long-term capital expenditure (CapEx) required to fully deploy the ELF system globally by the end of fiscal 2026.

General Mills, Inc. (GIS) - PESTLE Analysis: Legal factors

Facing heightened litigation risk over ultra-processed food (UPF) marketing and addiction claims.

You are seeing a major legal pivot in the food industry, with litigation risk over ultra-processed foods (UPFs) now mirroring the historical challenges faced by Big Tobacco. General Mills, Inc. is a named defendant in a landmark lawsuit filed in December 2024 that alleges major food companies intentionally designed their products to be addictive and used deceptive marketing practices, particularly targeting children.

This case, filed in a Pennsylvania court, is widely expected to spur a wave of mass tort litigation. The core legal theory claims that UPFs meet the same criteria for addictiveness that the U.S. Surgeon General used for tobacco in 1988: the ability to cause compulsive use, psychoactive effects, and reinforce behavior. General Mills must allocate significant resources to defend against these claims, which could result in substantial legal settlements or judgments, and defintely force costly product reformulation.

New state laws, like California's Real Food, Healthy Kids Act, phase out UPFs in school meals.

The legislative environment is tightening, starting with California's Real Food, Healthy Kids Act (AB 1264), signed into law on October 8, 2025. This is the first state law in the nation to legally define and mandate the phase-out of UPFs from school meals.

This law is a clear threat to General Mills' school food service revenue, as it impacts over 1 billion meals served annually to California students. The phase-out begins in July 2029, and by July 2032, vendors will be barred from supplying 'restricted school foods' to districts. Given California's market size, this law is expected to drive national changes in school food procurement and force General Mills to accelerate its product reformulation efforts to retain a share of the school market.

Other states are following suit. Arizona, for example, enacted the Arizona Healthy School Act in April 2025, which prohibits public schools from selling UPFs containing a list of 11 specific ingredients (like Yellow Dye 5 and Red Dye 40) starting in the 2026-2027 school year.

Compliance with global data privacy regulations (GDPR, CCPA) is a continuous operational cost.

Maintaining consumer trust and avoiding massive fines requires continuous investment in data privacy compliance, which is a non-negotiable operational cost. General Mills is committed to complying with the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), among other global regulations.

For a company of this size, the initial compliance costs for a large enterprise can range from $500,000 to over $3 million, with ongoing annual maintenance costs also in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Here's the quick math: General Mills reported total capital investments of $625 million in fiscal 2025, and a portion of that is dedicated to maintaining the 'robust information security program' required to mitigate data privacy and cybersecurity risks.

The company must manage compliance across a complex global footprint, including:

• Conducting regular data mapping and audits.
• Managing consumer consent and data subject access requests.
• Maintaining cybersecurity insurance coverage.
• Running regular phishing drills for employees.

Ongoing regulatory risk from changes to food labeling and advertising standards.

The regulatory landscape for food labeling is highly volatile and poses a direct legal and financial risk. General Mills, along with other cereal companies, opposed the FDA's new 'healthy' food labeling rule, implemented in 2024, because it would disqualify the vast majority of ready-to-eat cereals from using the term 'healthy.'

The next major hurdle is the FDA's proposed Front-of-Pack (FOP) nutrition labeling rule, which would require clear 'High,' 'Med,' or 'Low' designations for saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars on the front of packaging. The comment period for this proposal was extended to July 15, 2025.

This regulatory push requires immediate, costly action:

• Lobbying: Food manufacturers spent over $2 million since January 2025 lobbying on food labeling and nutritional issues.
• Reformulation: Changes to labeling standards force expensive product reformulation to maintain claims like 'healthy.'
• State-Level Patchwork: Texas enacted a law in June 2025 requiring the disclosure of 44 specific food additives on front labels for new product labels developed after January 1, 2027, creating a complex, state-by-state compliance challenge.

The table below summarizes the key regulatory threats and their immediate impact on General Mills' operations.

Finance: Track legal defense spending and allocate a risk reserve for potential UPF litigation by the end of the fiscal year.

General Mills, Inc. (GIS) - PESTLE Analysis: Environmental factors

You're looking at General Mills' environmental commitments, and the takeaway is clear: the company has set aggressive near-term targets for 2025, but execution is proving tricky in a few key areas, particularly in achieving zero-waste and fully recyclable packaging. The good news is they are ahead of schedule on their most impactful long-term initiative, regenerative agriculture.

Goal to achieve Zero Waste to Landfill at all owned facilities by the end of 2025

General Mills has a firm goal to achieve Zero Waste to Landfill (ZWTL) at all its owned facilities by the end of 2025. This is a critical, near-term operational target. What this goal means is diverting virtually all manufacturing waste-anything from food scraps to packaging materials-away from municipal landfills through recycling, composting, or waste-to-energy conversion.

Honestly, hitting a 100% global facility compliance rate by the end of this year is a massive operational lift. Back in fiscal year 2018, only ten facilities-or 20 percent of their global total-had fully met the ZWTL criteria. While the company has implemented system-wide measures like the DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) method to reduce losses, the final push to get every single plant to zero waste in 2025 will require significant capital investment and process changes in the remaining 80% of facilities.

Committed to no deforestation across key supply chains (palm oil, soy) by 2025

The commitment to no deforestation across key agricultural supply chains is set for December 31, 2025, focusing on palm oil, cocoa, and fiber (pulp and paper) packaging. This is an absolute commitment, and the company has made substantial progress by working through third-party certifications and supplier engagement.

For palm oil, General Mills has sourced 100% of its volume as Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certified sustainable since 2015. More recently, their 2025 Global Responsibility Report indicated that 88% of their palm oil supply chains and 97% of their fiber supply chains were reported as 'No deforestation' in 2024. This is a strong position, but that remaining small percentage represents a compliance risk. To be fair, the company is not a material direct user of soy from high-risk deforestation countries, which simplifies that part of the equation.

Advancing regenerative agriculture on 600,000 acres of farmland, targeting 1 million by 2030

This is where General Mills is flexing its muscle. Regenerative agriculture-farming practices that improve soil health, water quality, and biodiversity-is their core long-term climate strategy. The goal is to advance these practices on 1 million acres of farmland by 2030.

As of the 2025 fiscal year reporting, the company has already engaged over 600,000 acres in programming designed to advance regenerative agriculture. Here's the quick math: they are 60% of the way to their 2030 goal with five years left to go. This early progress is a major positive signal for investors, as it directly ties to mitigating their Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which represent the vast majority of their carbon footprint.

Goal to design 100% of packaging to be recyclable or reusable by 2030

General Mills' target is to design 100% of its packaging to be recyclable or reusable by 2030. This is a huge consumer-facing initiative, but progress has been slow recently. The percentage of their global packaging portfolio that is recyclable or reusable stagnated in fiscal year 2024 at 93%, the same rate as the year prior. That last 7% is the hardest part.

The challenge lies in flexible plastics, like the liners in cereal boxes or snack bar wrappers. General Mills is actively tackling this by shifting 46 million pounds of packaging from non-recyclable multi-material to mono-polyethylene (mono-PE), which can be recycled through the U.S. store drop-off program. Still, the overall portfolio remains heavily reliant on fiber, which is a good thing for recyclability.

The composition of their packaging portfolio in fiscal year 2024 was:

• Fiber: 73%
• Plastic: 13% (or 165 million pounds)
• Steel: 7%
• Glass: 4%
• Composite Cans: 2%
• Aluminum: 1%

This is a major risk: the final transition to 100% sustainable packaging could increase their GHG emissions in the short term, as shifting to more readily recyclable materials can sometimes have a higher carbon impact.