Dive Brief:
- General Mills named Dana McNabb as its new CEO starting Jan. 1. The current chief operating officer will succeed Jeff Harmening, who has led the company since 2017.
- McNabb joined the Cheerios and Nature Valley bar maker in 1999 and has held various roles at the Minnesota-based company, most recently as COO.
- Her appointment comes as General Mills and other food makers grapple with slowing sales from a pullback in consumer spending and a shift by shoppers toward healthier, less processed products.
Dive Insight:
General Mills is tapping an insider who is intimately familiar with the company’s long-term strategy, changing consumer habits and outside forces such as inflation and tariffs.
McNabb has gradually taken on more responsibility during her nearly 30 years at the company, including running all four of General Mills’ operating segments as COO. During a recent presentation by the company at a Barclays conference, it was McNabb who answered most of the questions on innovation, price cuts and other parts of the business — not Harmening.
“Following a robust, multi-year succession planning process, the board is confident that Dana is the right executive to lead the company through its next chapter of growth and value creation,” Maria Henry, the board’s independent lead director, said in a statement. “She has a strong track record of success, and a deep understanding of our consumers, our brands, our company and our industry.”
Under Harmening’s leadership, General Mills has been focusing on faster-growing businesses such as pet food, while pruning slower-growing or non-core assets. McNabb will likely continue that strategy while navigating a volatile market.
This year alone, the company sold Muir Glen tomato brand and divested its operations in Brazil. And in 2025, it completed the sale of its North American yogurt business for $2.1 billion.
To further generate growth, General Mills has also been cutting prices on many of its products and incorporating trendy ingredients like protein into several brands to attract consumers.
During its most recent quarter, General Mills said sales for the period ended Aug. 30 fell 3% to $4.4 billion, as the recent yogurt divestiture impacted the business. Overall, the company said organic net sales were roughly flat from last year.
The executive change at General Mills continues what has been a significant turnover within the C-suite among food and beverage giants. During the last year, Hormel Foods, Heineken, Conagra, Hershey, Molson Coors and Diageo have named new CEOs.
