Dive Brief:
- General Mills reported its earnings results for Q1 of fiscal 2014, recording an 8% rise in net sales to hit $4.37 billion, though quarterly earnings ultimately fell 16%.
- The company's profits for the quarter ending Aug. 25 hit $459.3 million (70 cents per share), falling from the $548.9 million (82 cents per share) mark that it hit during the same quarter last year.
- The company credited new products launches, such as Yoplait Greek yogurt, Honey Nut Cheerios Medley Crunch cereal and Pillsbury gluten-free refrigerated dough products, for helping grow sales, but cereal and yogurt overall remain difficult categories where the company is looking to improve with better marketing and Greek yogurt offerings.
Dive Insight:
The cold cereal category continues to be difficult in the U.S., even for established brands, and new breakfast products have managed to wedge their ways in to consumers diets. Those shifts present significant challenges when you're a cereal giant like General Mills. The company has been firing away with new marketing campaigns, however, using adult-themed Green Giant videos and new Pillsbury Toaster Strudel mascot to try to reach new audiences. If families won't eat cold cereal, General Mills needs to find other products to sell them, and that appears to be exactly what it has in mind.