GENERAL MILLS INC (GIS) Business

ITEM 1 - Business

COMPANY OVERVIEW

For more than

150 years, General

Mills has been

making food the

world loves.

We

are a leading

global manufacturer and

marketer of

branded consumer

foods with more

than 100 brands

in 100 countries

across six continents.

In addition to

our consolidated operations,

we

have

50

percent

interests

in

two

strategic

joint

ventures

that

manufacture

and

market

food

products

sold

in

approximately

130

countries worldwide.

We

manage and review the financial results of our

business under four operating segments: North America Retail; International;

North

America

Pet;

and

North

America

Foodservice.

See

Management’s

Discussion

and

Analysis

of

Financial

Condition

and

Results

of

Operations (MD&A) in Item 7 of this report for a description of our segments.

We

offer a variety of human and pet food

products that provide great taste, nutrition, convenience, and

value for consumers around the

world. Our business is focused on the following large, global

categories:

●

snacks, including grain, fruit and savory snacks, nutrition bars, and

frozen hot snacks;

●

ready-to-eat cereal;

●

convenient meals, including meal kits, ethnic meals, pizza, soup, side dish mixes,

frozen breakfast, and frozen entrees;

●

wholesome natural pet food;

●

refrigerated and frozen dough;

●

baking mixes and ingredients;

●

yogurt; and

●

super-premium ice cream.

Our Cereal Partners Worldwide

(CPW) joint venture with Nestlé

S.A. (Nestlé) competes in the

ready-to-eat cereal category in markets

outside North

America, and

our Häagen-Dazs

Japan, Inc.

(HDJ) joint

venture

competes in

the super-premium

ice cream

category

in

Japan. For net sales contributed

by each class of similar

products, please see Note 17

to the Consolidated Financial

Statements in Item

8 of this report.

The terms

“General Mills,”

“Company,”

“registrant,” “we,”

“us,” and

“our” mean

General Mills, Inc.

and all

subsidiaries included

in

the Consolidated Financial Statements in Item 8 of this report unless the context

indicates otherwise.

Certain terms used throughout this report are defined in a glossary in Item 8 of

this report.

Customers

Our

primary

customers

are

grocery

stores,

mass

merchandisers,

membership

stores,

natural

food

chains,

drug,

dollar

and

discount

chains, e-commerce

retailers, commercial

and noncommercial

foodservice distributors

and operators,

restaurants, convenience

stores,

and

pet

specialty

stores.

We

generally

sell

to

these

customers

through

our

direct

sales

force.

We

use

broker

and

distribution

arrangements for certain products and to serve certain types

of customers and certain markets. For further information

on our customer

credit

and

product

return practices,

please

refer

to Note

2

to the

Consolidated

Financial Statements

in

Item 8

of this

report.

During

fiscal 2025, Walmart

Inc. and its affiliates (Walmart)

accounted for 22 percent of our consolidated

net sales and 31 percent of net sales

of our

North America

Retail segment.

No other

customer accounted

for 10

percent or

more of

our consolidated

net sales.

For further

information on significant customers, please refer to Note 8 to the Consolidated

Financial Statements in Item 8 of this report.

Competition

The

human

and

pet

food

categories

are

highly

competitive,

with

numerous

manufacturers

of

varying

sizes in

the

United

States and

throughout the

world. The categories

in which

we participate

also are

very competitive.

Our principal

competitors in

these categories

are manufacturers, as

well as retailers with

their own branded

products. Competitors market

and sell their products

through brick-and-

mortar stores

and e-commerce.

All our

principal competitors

have substantial

financial, marketing,

and other

resources. Competition

in

our

product

categories

is

based

on

product

innovation,

product

quality,

price,

brand

recognition

and

loyalty,

effectiveness

of

marketing,

promotional

activity,

convenient

ordering

and

delivery

to

the consumer,

and the

ability

to

identify

and

satisfy

consumer

preferences.

Our

principal

strategies

for

competing

in

each

of

our

segments

include

unique

consumer

insights,

effective

customer

relationships, superior

product quality,

innovative advertising,

product promotion,

product innovation

aligned with consumers’

needs,

an efficient

supply chain, and

price. In most

product categories, we

compete not only

with other widely

advertised, branded

products,

but also

with regional

brands and

with generic

and private

label products

that are

generally sold

at lower

prices. Internationally,

we

compete with both multi-national and local manufacturers, and each

country includes a unique group of competitors.

5

Raw materials, ingredients, and packaging

The

principal

raw

materials

that

we

use

are

grains

(wheat,

oats,

and

corn),

dairy

products,

meat,

vegetable

oils,

sugar,

vegetables,

fruits,

nuts,

and

other

agricultural

products.

We

also

use

substantial

quantities

of

carton

board,

corrugated,

plastic,

and

metal

packaging

materials,

operating

supplies,

and

energy.

Most

of

these

inputs

for

our

domestic

and

Canadian

operations

are

purchased

from suppliers

in the

United States. In

our other

international operations,

inputs that

are not locally

available in

adequate supply

may

be imported

from other

countries. The

cost of

these inputs

may fluctuate

widely due

to external

conditions such

as weather,

climate

change,

product

scarcity,

limited

sources

of

supply,

commodity

market

fluctuations,

currency

fluctuations,

trade

tariffs,

pandemics,

war,

and

changes

in

governmental

agricultural

and

energy

policies

and

regulations.

We

believe

that

we

will

be

able

to

obtain

an

adequate supply

of needed

inputs. Occasionally

and where

possible, we

make advance

purchases of

items significant

to our

business

to ensure

continuity of

operations. Our

objective is

to procure

materials meeting

both our quality

standards and

our production

needs

at price levels

that allow a targeted

profit margin. Since

these inputs generally

represent the largest

variable cost in manufacturing

our

products, to the

extent possible, we

often manage the

risk associated with

adverse price movements

for some inputs

using a variety

of

risk

management

strategies.

We

also

have

a

grain

merchandising

operation

that

provides

us

efficient

access

to,

and

more

informed

knowledge of, various commodity

markets, principally wheat and oats.

This operation holds physical inventories

that are carried at net

realizable value and uses derivatives to manage its net inventory position and minimize

its market exposures.

TRADEMARKS AND PATENTS

Our

products

are

marketed

under

a

variety

of

valuable

trademarks.

Some

of

the

more

important

trademarks

used

in

our

global

operations

(set

forth

in

italics

in

this

report)

include

Annie’s

,

Betty

Crocker

,

Bisquick

,

Blue

Buffalo

,

Bugles

,

Cascadian

Farm

,

Cheerios

,

Chex

,

Cinnamon

Toast

Crunch

,

Cocoa Puffs

,

Cookie Crisp

,

Dunkaroos,

Edgard

& Cooper,

Fiber One

,

Fruit by

the Foot

,

Fruit

Gushers

,

Fruit

Roll-Ups

,

Gardetto’s

,

Gold

Medal

,

Golden

Grahams

,

Häagen-Dazs

,

Kitano

,

Kix

,

Lärabar

,

Latina

,

Lucky

Charms

,

Muir Glen

,

Nature

Valley

,

Nudges, Oatmeal

Crisp

,

Old El

Paso

,

Pillsbury

,

Progresso

,

Tastefuls

,

Tiki

Pets

,

Total

,

Totino’s

,

Trix

,

True

Chews,

True

Solutions,

Wanchai

Ferry

,

Wheaties

,

Wilderness

,

and

Yoki

.

We

protect

these

trademarks

as

appropriate

through registrations in the

United States and other jurisdictions.

Depending on the jurisdiction,

trademarks are generally valid

as long

as they are in use

or their registrations are properly

maintained and they have

not been found to have

become generic. Registrations of

trademarks can also generally be renewed indefinitely for

as long as the trademarks are in use.

Some

of

our

products

are

marketed

under

or

in

combination

with

trademarks

that

have

been

licensed

from

others

for

both

long-

standing

products

(e.g.,

Reese’s

Puffs

for

cereal,

Green

Giant

for vegetables

in certain

countries, and

Yoplait

and related

brands for

fresh dairy in the United States), and shorter term promotional products (e.g., fruit

snacks sold under various third party equities).

Our cereal

trademarks

are licensed

to CPW

and

may be

used in

association

with the

Nestlé

trademark.

Nestlé licenses

certain

of its

trademarks

to

CPW,

including

the

Nestlé

and

Uncle

Toby’s

trademarks.

The

Häagen-Dazs

trademark

is

licensed

royalty-free

and

exclusively

to

Nestlé

and

authorized

sublicensees

for

ice

cream

and

other

frozen dessert

products

in

the

United

States and

Canada.

The

Häagen-Dazs

trademark is

also licensed

to HDJ

in Japan.

The

Pillsbury

brand and

the

Pillsbury Doughboy

character are

subject

to

an

exclusive,

royalty-free

license

that

was

granted

to

a

third

party

and

its

successors

in

the

shelf-stable

baking

categories

in

the

United States and under limited circumstances in Canada and Mexico.

We

continue

our

focus

on

developing

and

marketing

innovative,

proprietary

products,

many

of

which

use

proprietary

expertise,

recipes and formulations,

and are patent protected. We

consider the collective rights under our various patents, which

expire from time

to time, a valuable asset,

but we do not

believe that our businesses are

materially dependent upon

any single patent or group

of related

patents.

SEASONALITY

In

general,

demand

for

our

products

is

evenly

balanced

throughout

the

year.

However,

within

our

North

America

Retail

segment

demand

for

refrigerated

dough,

frozen

baked

goods,

and

baking

products

is

stronger

in

the

fourth

calendar

quarter.

Demand

for

Progresso

soup is higher

during the

fall and winter

months. Within

our International

segment, demand

for

Häagen-Dazs

ice cream is

higher during

the summer

months and

demand for

baking mix

increases during

winter months.

Due to

the offsetting

impact of

these

demand

trends,

as well

as the

different

seasons

in

the

northern

and

southern

hemispheres,

our

International

segment’s

net

sales are

generally evenly balanced throughout the year.

QUALITY AND SAFETY REGULATION

The

manufacture

and

sale

of

human

and

pet

food

products

is

highly

regulated.

In

the

United

States,

our

activities

are

subject

to

regulation by

various federal

government agencies,

including the

Food and

Drug Administration,

Department of

Agriculture, Federal

Trade

Commission,

Department

of

Commerce,

Occupational

Safety

and

Health

Administration,

and

Environmental

Protection

Agency,

as

well

as

various

federal,

state,

and

local

agencies

relating

to

the

production,

packaging,

labelling,

marketing,

storage,

distribution, quality,

and safety of food

and pet products and

the health and safety

of our employees.

Our business is also

regulated by

similar agencies outside of the United States.

6

ENVIRONMENTAL

MATTERS

As

of

May

25,

2025,

we

were

involved

with

two

response

actions

associated

with

the

alleged

or

threatened

release

of

hazardous

substances or wastes located in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Moonachie, New

Jersey.

Our

operations

are

subject

to

the

Clean

Air

Act,

Clean

Water

Act,

Resource

Conservation

and

Recovery

Act,

Comprehensive

Environmental

Response,

Compensation,

and

Liability

Act,

and

the

Federal

Insecticide,

Fungicide,

and

Rodenticide

Act,

and

all

similar state, local, and foreign environmental laws and regulations applicable

to the jurisdictions in which we operate.

Based on current

facts and circumstances,

we believe that

neither the

results of our

environmental proceedings

nor our compliance

in

general

with

environmental

laws

or

regulations

will

have

a

material

adverse

effect

upon

our

capital

expenditures,

earnings,

or

competitive position.

HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT

Recruiting, developing, engaging, and protecting our

workforce is critical to executing our strategy and achieving

business success. As

of

May

25,

2025,

we

had

approximately

33,000

employees

around

the

globe,

with

approximately

17,000

in

the

U.S.

and

approximately 16,000

located in our

markets outside

of the U.S.

Our workforce

is divided

between approximately

13,000 employees

dedicated to the production of our products and approximately 20,

000 non-production employees.

The

efficient

production

of

high-quality

products

and

successful

execution

of

our

strategy

requires

a

talented,

skilled,

and

engaged

team of employees. We

work to equip our employees with

critical skills and expand their contributions

over time by providing a range

of training and career

development opportunities, including

hands-on experiences via

challenging work assignments and

job rotations,

coaching

and mentoring

opportunities, and

training programs.

To

foster employee

engagement and

commitment, we

follow a

robust

process

to

listen

to

employees,

take

action,

and

measure

our

progress

with

on-going

employee

conversations,

transparent

communications, and employee engagement surveys.

We

believe that

fostering a

culture of

belonging is

the right

thing to

do for

our employees

and business.

It strengthens

our ability

to

recruit talent and provides all

of our employees with an

environment where they have

an opportunity to thrive and

succeed. Champion

Belonging

– a

Company

value –

helps bring

to life

our

culture of

belonging through

respecting and

including

all voices,

ideas, and

perspectives.

We

embed

our

culture

of

belonging

into

our

day-to-day

ways

of

working

through

a

number

of

programs

to

foster

discussion, build empathy,

and increase understanding.

We

are

committed

to

maintaining

a

safe

and

secure

workplace

for

our

employees.

We

set

specific

safety

standards

to

identify

and

manage critical risks.

We

use global safety

management systems and

employee training to

ensure consistent implementation

of safety

protocols and

accurate measurement

and tracking of

incidents. To

provide a safe

and secure working

environment for our

employees,

we prohibit workplace

discrimination, and

we do not

tolerate abusive conduct

or harassment. Our

attention to the

health and safety

of

our workforce extends to the workers and communities in our supply chain.

We believe that respect

for human rights is fundamental to

our strategy and to our commitment to ethical business conduct.

INFORMATION ABOUT

OUR EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

The section below provides information regarding our executive officers

as of June 25, 2025.

Kofi A. Bruce

, age 55, is Chief Financial

Officer. Mr.

Bruce joined General Mills in 2009 as

Vice President,

Treasurer after serving

in

a

variety

of

senior

management

positions

with

Ecolab

and

Ford

Motor

Company.

He

served

as

Treasurer

until

2010

when

he

was

named Vice

President, Finance for

Yoplait.

Mr. Bruce

reassumed his role

as Vice

President, Treasurer

from 2012 until

2014 when he

was named

Vice

President, Finance

for Convenience

Stores &

Foodservice. He

was named

Vice

President, Controller

in 2017,

Vice

President, Financial Operations in September 2019, and to his present position

in February 2020.

Ricardo

Fernandez

,

age

52,

is

Segment

President,

International.

Mr.

Fernandez

joined

General

Mills

in

2000

as

an

Associate

Marketing Manager and held various marketing roles of increasing

responsibility until being named Vice

President, Marketing, Frozen

Frontier

in

2012,

Vice

President,

CPW

Marketing

in

2014,

President,

Latin

America

in

2016,

and

President,

Morning

Foods

in

January 2020. He was named to his present position in December 2023.

Paul J. Gallagher

,

age

57, is Chief

Supply Chain Officer.

Mr.

Gallagher joined General

Mills in April

2019 as Vice

President, North

America Supply Chain from Diageo plc. He began

his career at Diageo where he spent 25 years serving in a variety

of leadership roles

in manufacturing,

procurement, planning,

customer service,

and engineering

before becoming

President, North

America Supply

from

2013 to March 2019. He was named to his present position in July 2021.

7

Jeffrey

L. Harmening

, age

58, is

Chairman of

the Board

and Chief

Executive Officer.

Mr.

Harmening joined

General Mills

in 1994

and

served

in

various

marketing

roles

in

the

Betty

Crocker,

Yoplait,

and

Big

G

cereal

divisions.

He

was

named

Vice

President,

Marketing

for

CPW

in

2003

and

Vice

President

of

the

Big

G

cereal

division

in

2007.

In

2011,

he

was

promoted

to

Senior

Vice

President

for

the

Big

G

cereal

division.

Mr.

Harmening

was

appointed

Senior

Vice

President,

Chief

Executive

Officer

of

CPW

in

2012. Mr.

Harmening returned from CPW

in 2014 and was

named Executive Vice

President, Chief Operating Officer,

U.S. Retail. He

became

President,

Chief

Operating

Officer

in 2016.

He

was named

Chief

Executive

Officer

in

2017

and

Chairman

of the

Board

in

2018. Mr. Harmening

is a director of The Toro Company.

Elizabeth A. Mascolo

, age 50, is

Segment President, North

America Pet.

Ms. Mascolo joined

General Mills in

2002 and held various

marketing roles

in Cereals,

Meals, and

Snacks before

serving as

Global Marketing

Director for

CPW from

2014 through

2017.

Ms.

Mascolo

was named

Business

Unit Director

for

Cheerios &

Strategic

Revenue

Management

in July

2017;

Vice

President,

Business

Unit Director,

Pillsbury,

in April 2020;

and President, North

America Blue Buffalo,

in February 2023.

She was named

to her present

position in March 2025.

Dana M.

McNabb

,

age 49,

is Group

President, North

America Retail

and North

America Pet.

Ms. McNabb

joined General

Mills in

1999 and

held a

variety of

marketing roles

in Cereal,

Snacks, Meals,

and New

Products before

becoming Vice

President, Marketing

for

CPW

in

2011

and

Vice

President,

Marketing

for

the

Circle

of

Champions

Business

Unit

in

2015.

She

became

President,

U.S.

Cereal Operating

Unit in 2016,

Group President, Europe

& Australia in

January 2020, Chief

Strategy & Growth

Officer in July

2021,

Group President, North America Retail in January 2024, and was named to

her present position in June 2025.

Jaime

Montemayor

,

age

61,

is

Chief

Digital

and

Technology

Officer.

He

spent

21

years

at

PepsiCo,

Inc.,

serving

in

roles

of

increasing

responsibility,

including

most

recently

as

Senior

Vice

President

and

Chief

Information

Officer

of

PepsiCo’s

Americas

Foods segment

from 2013

to 2015, and

Senior Vice

President and

Chief Information

Officer,

Digital Innovation,

Data and Analytics,

PepsiCo from

2015 to

2016. Mr.

Montemayor served

as Chief

Technology

Officer of

7-Eleven Inc.

in 2017.

He assumed

his present

role in February 2020 after founding and operating a digital technology

consulting company from 2017 until January 2020.

Jon

J.

Nudi

,

age

55,

was

Group

President,

North

America

Pet,

International,

and

North

America

Foodservice

from

January

2024

through his

retirement in

June 2025.

Mr.

Nudi joined

General Mills

in 1993

as a

Sales Representative

and held

a variety

of roles

in

Consumer

Foods Sales.

In 2005,

he

moved

into marketing

roles

in

the Meals

division

and

was elected

Vice

President

in

2007.

Mr.

Nudi

was

named

Vice

President;

President,

Snacks,

in

2010,

Senior

Vice

President;

President,

Europe/Australasia

in

2014,

Senior

Vice President; President, U.S.

Retail in 2016

and Group President, North America Retail in 2017.

Mark A. Pallot

,

age 52,

is Vice

President, Chief

Accounting Officer.

Mr.

Pallot joined

General Mills in

2007 and

served as

Director,

Financial

Reporting

until

2017,

when

he was

named

Vice

President,

Assistant

Controller.

He

was elected

to

his

present

position

in

February

2020.

Prior

to

joining

General

Mills,

Mr.

Pallot

held

accounting

and

financial

reporting

positions

at

Residential

Capital,

LLC, Metris, Inc., CIT Group Inc., and Ernst & Young,

LLP.

Asheesh Saksena

, age 61,

is Chief Strategy

and Growth Officer.

Mr.

Saksena joined General

Mills in August

2024.

Prior to joining

General

Mills,

Mr.

Saksena

served

as

Chief

Growth

Officer

at

Gap

Inc.

from

January

2021

to

March

2023.

He

served

as

Senior

Advisor to

the Chief Executive

Officer of

Best Buy Co.,

Inc. from August

2020 to November

2020; President, Best

Buy Health, Best

Buy Co., Inc.

from 2018 to

August 2020; Chief

Strategic Growth

Officer,

Best Buy Co.,

Inc. from

2016 to 2018;

and Executive Vice

President, Chief Strategy Officer,

Cox Communications, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises,

Inc., from 2011 to 2016.

Lanette Shaffer Werner

, age 54, is Chief Innovation, Technical

and Quality Officer.

Ms. Shaffer Werner

joined General Mills in 1995

and held various R&D roles in Frozen Desserts, Pillsbury,

and Baking before serving as Director of One Global

Dairy and Sr. Director

for One Global Cereal. In July 2021, Ms. Shaffer Werner

was named as Vice President, Innovation,

Technical and Quality,

U.S. Meals

& Baking Solutions. She was named to her present position in June 2023.

Pankaj Sharma

,

age 52, is Segment

President, North America Foodservice.

Mr. Sharma

joined General Mills in

2014 and served as

a

Marketing

Director until

2017, when

he was

named Vice

President,

Marketing,

Europe &

Australia.

He was

promoted to

President,

U.S.

Yogurt

in

May

2018

and

President,

U.S.

Meals

&

Baking

Solutions

in

July

2019.

He

was

named

to

his

present

position

in

February 2024.

Karen Wilson

Thissen

, age

58, is

General Counsel

and Secretary.

Ms. Wilson

Thissen joined

General Mills

in June

2022.

Prior to

joining

General

Mills, she

spent

17 years

at Ameriprise

Financial,

Inc.,

serving in

roles of

increasing

responsibility,

including

most

recently as Executive Vice

President and General Counsel

from 2017 to June

2022, and Executive Vice

President and Deputy General

Counsel from 2014

to 2017.

Before joining

Ameriprise Financial, Inc.,

she was a partner

at the law

firm of Faegre

Drinker (formerly

Faegre & Benson LLP).

8

Jacqueline

Williams-Roll

,

age

56,

is

Chief

Human

Resources

Officer.

In

this

capacity,

she

also

has

responsibility

for

Corporate

Communications.

Ms.

Williams-Roll

joined

General

Mills

in

1995.

She

held

human

resources

leadership

roles

in

Supply

Chain,

Finance, Marketing,

and Organization

Effectiveness and

worked a

large part

of her

career on

businesses outside

of the United

States.

She

was

named

Vice

President,

Human

Resources,

International

in

2010,

and

then

promoted

to

Senior

Vice

President,

Human

Resources

Operations

in

2013.

She

was

named

to

her

present

position

in

2014.

Prior

to

joining

General

Mills,

she

held

sales

and

management roles with Jenny Craig International.

WEBSITE ACCESS

Our

website

is

https://www.generalmills.com.

We

make

available,

free

of

charge

in

the

“Investors”

portion

of

this

website,

annual

reports

on

Form

10-K,

quarterly

reports

on

Form

10-Q,

current

reports

on

Form

8-K,

and

amendments

to

those

reports

filed

or

furnished pursuant to Section 13(a)

or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange

Act of 1934 (1934 Act) as soon

as reasonably practicable after

we

electronically

file

such

material

with,

or

furnish

it

to,

the

Securities

and

Exchange

Commission

(SEC).

All

such

filings

are

available

on the

SEC’s

website

at https://www.sec.gov.

Reports

of beneficial

ownership filed

pursuant

to Section

16(a) of

the 1934

Act are also available on our website.