General Mills is continuing to enjoy good results during the pandemic, but the momentum is slowing.
Revenue for the quarter ending Aug. 30, the first quarter of GM’s 2021 fiscal year, was up 9%, to $4.36 billion, and profit was up 23%, to $638.9 million. Sales for breakfast cereal was up 10%, and for North American groceries, 14%.
Sales for the quarter were up 10% from the same quarter last year, but sales for the previous quarter – the last quarter of fiscal 2020 – had been up 16% over the previous year. That quarter, from March to May, covered the beginning of the pandemic, when many processors of center-store products enjoyed sales gains.
CEO Jeff Harmening says the company’s priority is defending the gains it has made during the pandemic, through means like increased marketing and improvements in the supply chain.
“We’re doing everything we can now, because when the pandemic is over, I want people to remember how great our food is,” he told the Wall Street Journal.
