General Mills names new CEO

5/5/2017

MINNEAPOLIS — General Mills is looking to a longtime company executive to lead the company. Its board this week named Jeffrey Harmening CEO, effective June 1, and elected him to the board of directors. Harmening has been with General Mills for 23 years and has been president and COO since July 2016. 


 


“A key responsibility of a board is leading a thoughtful, robust succession planning process,” R. Kerry Clark, General Mills board lead director said. “The board unanimously cast its vote for Jeff as the best candidate to lead this venerable 150-year-old company. Jeff knows how to build talented teams and has extensive experience both in the U.S. and globally. He is not afraid to challenge the status quo and he is a tenacious and resilient leader.”


 


Harmening succeeds Ken Powell, who has been the company’s chairman and CEO since 2007. Powell will stay on board as chairman during the transition period until his retirement, which is expected within the next year. 


 


"Under Ken's leadership as CEO, the company made significant strides to expand globally, developed a culture of Holistic Margin Management, and redoubled its focus on meeting the ever-changing needs of consumers,” Clark said. “These achievements have resulted in outstanding value creation for General Mills shareholders, including 11 percent compound annual total shareholder returns."


 


Under Harmening’s leadership of General Mills’ U.S. leadership business, the company said it expanded its natural and organic segment positioning through acquisitions of such acquisitions as Annie’s and EPIC Provisions, making it the fourth-largest U.S. natural and organic food maker. Harmening also realigned the company’s cereal portfolio while president of its U.S. cereal business. 


 


"I am honored to take the helm of General Mills at such an important point in its history," Harmening said. "Building on the legacy of those that have led this great company before me is an exciting challenge and one I do not take on alone. General Mills' employees are singularly focused on driving growth and returns for the long term, and it will be a privilege to help them reach that goal." 


 


Harmening joined General Mills in 1994 and has served in such roles as SVP, CEO of Cereal Partners Worldwide, a joint venture with Nestlé based in Switzerland that markets cereal in 130 countries. He has been EVP, COO U.S. Retail, VP and SVP of the Big G cereal division and held various marketing roles at Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Foodservice and Big G new enterprises. 


 

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