General Mills (NYSE:GIS) executives used the company’s fiscal third-quarter 2026 earnings call to reiterate confidence in a strategy that has emphasized near-term reinvestment to improve brand “remarkability” and price competitiveness, while pointing to early signs of progress in key demand indicators. Management also discussed an agreement to divest the company’s Brazil business and provided additional detail on innovation, pricing actions, and factors influencing fourth-quarter expectations.
Reinvestment phase nearing completion, guidance reaffirmed
Chairman and CEO Jeff Harmening said General Mills made a “proactive and strategic decision” entering fiscal 2026 to reinvest to sharpen competitiveness, acknowledging it would pressure near-term results. Three quarters into the plan, Harmening said the company is seeing momentum in “critical building blocks for sustainable growth,” including household penetration, improved baseline volume, distribution, and market shares.
Pricing actions and the push to improve dollar share in North America Retail
In response to questions about fiscal 2027, Harmening said the company’s goal is to improve North America Retail (NAR) competitiveness “in dollar terms.” He said fiscal 2026 competitiveness improved “in pound terms” due to pricing actions, and that in fiscal 2027 General Mills plans to rely more on innovation, renovation, and improved marketing returns to drive better dollar sales results while maintaining pound-share performance as much as possible.
CFO Kofi Bruce addressed price mix and the competitive environment, noting category price mix has been “up a little bit,” driven by some small brand innovation. However, he emphasized that General Mills’ price mix has been negative this year largely because the company focused on adjusting base shelf prices—rather than increasing promotional frequency or depth—to close price gaps and move below “key cliffs and gaps” versus competitors. Bruce said the full lapping of those base-price investments should occur in the beginning of fiscal 2027 and that the company expects to return to price mix growth in fiscal 2027, with improvements starting in Pillsbury, then cereal, then fruit snacks.
Innovation update: tracking to targets, with more launches planned
Management said innovation is performing in line with prior goals. Harmening said new product growth is tracking at about 25% (or slightly higher) in North America Retail and about 20% to 25% for the total portfolio.
Dana McNabb, Group President of North America Retail and North America Pet, said NAR is likely to land “a little bit higher” than 25% growth from new products. She described consumer resonance around “mainstream premium” benefits such as protein and fiber, plus taste renovations in snacks. As an example, she said Cheerios Protein is the biggest brand gaining a protein benefit and is expected to be “$100 million by the end of this year.”
Looking to fiscal 2027, McNabb said General Mills expects “another step change in new products,” citing functional nutrition and flavor initiatives. She highlighted plans including protein coming to Honey Nut Cheerios, national scaling of Ghost protein bars, and multiple fiber and protein-focused snack innovations. McNabb also outlined a slate of flavor-driven launches and partnerships, and said the company plans to support innovation with “double-digit media investment,” seasonal events, and in-store and online execution.
Pet and Love Made Fresh: distribution progress, focus shifts to turns
On Pet, Harmening said the company is adding households, building its cat feeding portfolio, and taking steps to accelerate growth through Love Made Fresh. McNabb said the company is “pleased” with the Love Made Fresh launch, citing execution and retailer and consumer reviews. She said the brand is “above the 5,000 mark on coolers” and that marketing execution has been strong.
McNabb said the key near-term focus is improving turns at shelf, particularly through better on-shelf availability. She explained General Mills determined store representatives needed to visit stores weekly to keep coolers full, and said that after about three weeks of this change, the company has seen a “step up in turns,” though she declined to provide a specific magnitude given the limited timeframe.
She also pointed to two additional initiatives expected to help turns:
- Packaging: launching a stand-up resealable pouch format, which she said represents 55% of fresh sales and is “two times the dollar ring of rolls.”
- Marketing mix: shifting further down the funnel to better direct consumers to where the product is sold and improve trial conversion.
On distribution milestones, management said the emphasis is on improving turns where the product is already placed, while adding more coolers and improving availability. The new pouch is expected to add distribution within existing stores via more SKUs.
Foodservice and snacks: flour and Totino’s highlighted as pressure points
Asked about foodservice weakness, Harmening said at-home eating occasions have been stable at about 86%, with commercial traffic down about half a point and non-commercial traffic up about a point. He noted General Mills over-indexes in non-commercial channels. He also said that within the segment’s profit decline, about half was due to the yogurt divestiture and about 35% tied to flour. Harmening said the company is not assuming the flour business rebounds in the fourth quarter, noting foodservice distribution dynamics can move more slowly.
On snacks, McNabb said the company’s salty snacks business has delivered three consecutive quarters of pound and dollar share growth, supported by price investments, price-pack architecture, and flavor renovation. She characterized the primary issue within snacks as hot snacks, particularly Totino’s, where a price-pack architecture change from bag to box hurt perceived value and led to significant sales declines. She said the company is in the process of converting back, with retailers supportive, and plans to improve product quality and messaging.
McNabb added that excluding Totino’s, snacks would still be “down slightly,” driven by grain snacks. She said consumers are moving toward performance nutrition, which has informed increased focus on high-protein, low-sugar products such as Ghost bars, while also emphasizing opportunities with Fiber One and Protein One among GLP-1 users.
Separately, Harmening discussed the agreement to sell the company’s Brazil business, including Yoki and Kitano. He said the move reflects a disciplined portfolio-shaping approach and is intended to focus international resources on key global platforms such as super premium ice cream, Mexican food, snack bars, and pet food. Harmening said Brazil lacked scale and was primarily local brands rather than General Mills’ global brands, which contributed to the business being “not… very profitable for quite some time.” He said divesting the business should improve the international segment’s margin profile and allow resources to shift to areas with a stronger “right to win.”
Looking to the fourth quarter, Bruce said guidance assumes improvement in organic sales trends largely from mechanical factors rather than a “dramatic turn” in market performance. He cited a significant retailer inventory headwind in the third quarter expected to flip to a tailwind in the fourth quarter—worth about 200 basis points to organic growth in Q4—along with a reversal of trade expense timing. He also pointed to variability tied to supply chain disruptions and weather-related shipment timing as a key swing factor for profit results within the guidance range.
About General Mills (NYSE:GIS)
General Mills, Inc (NYSE: GIS) is a multinational consumer foods company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of branded food products. Its product categories include ready-to-eat and hot cereals, baking mixes and ingredients, snacks and bars, refrigerated and frozen doughs, yogurt and other dairy products, and a variety of shelf-stable meals and meal components. The company’s portfolio features widely recognized consumer brands across grocery store, mass channel and foodservice outlets.
Founded in the early 20th century and incorporated under its current name in 1928, General Mills has grown through both internal brand development and strategic expansion to become a global food company.
