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G
eneral Mills is general, all right. able kind of packaging material, and it regularly rolls out
The $13.7 billion company has innovative packages of all kinds (see Portion packs
a product portfolio so diverse that cater to on-the-go consumers on p.32). Packaging is an
an entire big wall in the visitors integral part of the companys impressive recent per-
center in its Minneapolis head- formance. Sales for the 2008 fiscal year (ending May 28)
quarters is covered with the were up 10% and earnings up 13%, the first double-digit
names of its products. The Mills rise in sales since the company bought Pillsbury in 2001.
part, of course, reflects the Big G cereals, like Cheerios This success, with packaging and in overall perform-
and Wheaties, that represent 22% of its sales. ance, is why General Mills is Food & Beverage
But General Mills products also include Yoplait Packagings 2008 Food Packager of the Year, a repeat
yogurt; Pillsbury mixes, frozen and refrigerated performance from 2003.
dough, and other baked and grain-based products; Packaging improvements at General Mills comprise
Hagen-Dazs ice cream; Progresso canned soup; everything from high-profile new products to money-sav-
Old El Paso Mexican ing refinements that few consumers will notice. Nurturing
foods and meal kits; these ideas, and coordinating them across the vast organi-
Green Giant canned zation, is a major part of General Mills packaging initiative.
and frozen vegetables,
and much more. Coordinated effort
Its packaging is as The companys approach to packaging strategy is a
diverse as its products. mix of autonomy and companywide coordination.
General Mills uses just Packaging is aligned by business unit, meaning that each
/ b y PA N D E M E T R A K A K E S, E x e c u t i v e E d i t o r about every conceiv- of the companys major divisions, such as Big G cereals 4
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executing the packaging for its products. But packaging
Were really able to
still is centralized in Minneapolis, says Carol Cady, direc- share stories and
VITO PALMISAN0
tor of packaging research and development.
The way our packaging group is, were aligned by divi- insights and ideas
sion, but were located centrally as the packaging organi- across the packaging
zation, Cady says. And that way, were really able to
share stories and insights and ideas across the packaging development
development community. And were able to coach and
mentor each other. So its kind of a matrix organization.
community, and were
This matrix has several aspects. Packaging able to coach and mentor each other.
Partners is what Cady calls a virtual team that Carol Cady, packaging R&D director
includes all the functions focused on packaging,
including R&D, sourcing, brand design, engineering
and operations. That way, were able to take in all John Allgaier, director of packaging sourcing, says
the different perspectives and experience from each that the Strategy Map Teams are also a good way to
of those different functions that contribute to pack- get packaging suppliers on board with what General
aging and really get alignment, she says. Mills will need in the immediate future.
This year, General Mills set up Strategy Map Its all about focus, for suppliers as well as General
The Health Blends line Teams, cross-functional and cross-divisional, that Mills, Allgaier says. When our suppliers talk to us,
extension of Green Giant
consists of combinations
are organized by packaging material, like metal, they arent going after the latest need of an individual
of frozen vegetables paperboard, rigid plastic or flexible film. These R&D scientist or the latest need of operations. Theyre
chosen for their specific teams lay out a five-year strategy for the companys going at it more strategically, saying, I understand
health benefits. The potential use of each material, looking at aspects like General Mills from a leadership standpoint. These are
cartons feature these innovation, sustainability and supplier partnerships. the places you want me to place my bets.
benefits, like immunity
boost or healthy
Were able to get to bigger ideas or opportunities Cady also leads the G-Tech Packaging Team, a
weight, in large type that cut across multiple divisions that are tied to a group that looks at emerging packaging technologies.
inside a big circle. common platform, Cady says. This is another across-the-board approach.
The G-Tech team that I lead interacts with all of
the divisions, Cady says. So we can find an
enabling technology that might have applicability in
three or four of those divisions.
Holistic approach
Perhaps the most prominent companywide effort at
General Mills is Holistic Margin Management (HMM).
Its a method of systematically driving out costs from
all aspects of the business, by eliciting feedback from
plant employees, product development, marketing,
finance and consumer insights.
Cady describes HMM as a process of continuous
improvement, done at the plant level. A line opera-
tion is examined from start to finish for unit opera-
tions that may be wasteful, have unnecessary steps or
use excessive materials.
Were looking for all of those areas that are not
value-added, that we can eliminate, Cady says.
An example of packaging economy that was made
through HMM had to do with the foil lids for single-
serve Yoplait yogurt. The lids had come in three colors
for different flavors, with the attendant difficulties in
ordering and maintaining stocks. During an HMM
review, the suggestion came to go to single-color lids.
Consumer research showed that the monocolor lids 4
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didnt detract from the products shelf recognition, or One of our missions
shoppability. Single-color lids were instituted last
year, for an annual savings of $2 million. is to really clean up the
VITO PALMISAN0
A more comprehensive savings project through the
HMM process came with Hamburger Helper, General
package [graphics],
Mills iconic line of hamburger casserole mixes. so that the product
The HMM review determined that two big contribut-
ing factors to the bulk of a Hamburger Helper carton itself can stand out.
were the bent shape of the pasta noodles and the pres- Mark Sullivan, brand design director
ence, in some varieties, of multiple pouches of toppings.
The suggestion emerged to flatten out the noodles and is that people have just been throwing more and more
pare the topping pouches down to one. Consumer junk onto the package. And so one of our missions
research revealed that the flatter noodles were fine with is to really clean up the package, so that the product
consumers, and that they didnt value the extra top- itself can stand out and also help reduce the noise thats
pingsin fact, they preferred one pouch, because it happening in these categories.
made preparation more convenient. The result was a
carton that, while keeping the same width and height Green Giant makeover
for a consistent billboard, cut the depth for a 20% reduc- Sullivan cites Green Giant vegetables as an example of
tion in overall fiber use (estimated savings: almost this principle in action. One goal of a recent redesign was
900,000 pounds of paper annually) that allows signifi- to back up the companys message that frozen veggies
cantly more cartons to be loaded onto a truck. have as many, and in some cases more, nutritional bene-
fits than fresh. Reducing the number of graphic elements
The asset of equity on the package was a way to focus on these benefits.
Brand equity is one of General Mills most important A lot of that was driven by keeping the package
assets. Its more valuable now than ever, according to very clean, to really highlight the food, Sullivan says.
food industry analysts like Tim Kenyon of GfK Because were a food company, and consumers really
Custom Research. Strong brand equity can help com- shop and eat with their eyes, [we asked ourselves]
panies like General Mills pass along increased costs. how do we make the product look as appetizing as
In fact, strong brands have extra appeal when con- possible? Ensure theres room to breathe on the pack-
sumers cut back on eating out, Kenyon told the age, and there isnt too much clutter surrounding the
Minneapolis Star-Tribune: They may actually be will- key things we want the consumer to take away.
ing to spend a little more on the nicer products For its packaging graphics, General Mills conceives
because they know theyre not going out as much. strategy in-house, but counts on third-party firms for the
Maintaining brand equity has been the focus of ongo- actual graphics design. This approach helps keep the
ing redesign efforts, says Mark Sullivan, General Mills companys graphics from getting stale, Sullivan says.
brand design director. One of the companys overall Even though, in practice, General Mills mostly uses the
imperatives has been to strengthen the impact of pack- same half-dozen or so design firms, the use of outside
aging graphics through simplification and focus. firms means it can always go to a completely new source.
One of the areas that were trying to be more dili- You continue to stay fresh, Sullivan says. You get a
gent around are some pretty basic design principles, lot more external perspective. The popular school of
Sullivan says. What has happened over the course of I thought is that the more it stays internal, the more youre
dont know how many years, and its not just General not bringing in a lot of innovation, because people are so
Mills but a little bit of a packaged goods phenomenon, used to working on the same thing over and over again.
Packaging, in just about every form conceivable
for food, will continue to be a way for General Mills
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eneral Mills has a diverse product portfolio Another element in installing lines quickly, and
thats loaded with unique products. But its running them efficiently, is good relationships with
Greater automation
means faster, more operational imperatives are the same as suppliers. General Mills divides machinery suppli-
reliable handling everyone elses: Make things faster, cheaper and better. ers into four categories:
for Nature Valley To that end, the company has implemented broad 1. Srategic suppliers, who can serve as partners to drive
granola bars. strategies for continuous improvement, employee innovation. Strategic suppliers often furnish equipment
training, supplier relationships and other operational
aspects. The results have included faster speed to mar-
ket, more consistent employee performance, increased
You can invent and
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