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General Mills ‘Transformation’ Foreshadows Layoffs, Divestitures

May 29, 2025

In an SEC filing this week, the company estimated $130 million in charges for ‘exit or disposal activities,’ with immediate ones ‘primarily reflecting severance expenses.’

Dave Fusaro

With sales down 1% through nine months of its fiscal year and profits down more, General Mills apparently is undertaking a “transformation initiative” to improve results, with media reports indicating there could be divestitures or layoffs looming.

A May 27 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, titled “Costs associated with exit or disposal activities,” estimated $130 million in charges by the end of fiscal 2028. Approximately $70 million of that comes right now, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, which ends today (May 29) or tomorrow, “primarily reflecting severance expenses,” the SEC filing said.

General Mills said its board on May 20 “approved a multi-year global transformation initiative intended to drive increased productivity by enhancing end-to-end business processes, enabled by targeted organizational actions.”

There were few details in the SEC filing. In an email to us, a spokesperson said: "Amidst a dynamic external environment, returning General Mills to growth — our number one priority — requires increased investment back into the business. We recently announced a global transformation initiative to support this reinvestment. While this news represents hard choices, they are necessary to fund product innovation, create compelling consumer value and position General Mills for long-term success."

Big G is having a rough year. Sales in its third quarter report were down 5% overall. North American retail, the company’s biggest reporting segment, has been on a decline all year, was down 7% in that third-quarter report released March 19. All the other segments – North American pet, North American foodservice and international – recorded drops in volume. Sales were flat in pet, foodservice was up 1 point and international lost 4 percentage points.

Operating profit of $891 million was down 2% in that third quarter; adjusted operating profit of $801 million was down 13% percent in constant currency.

“Our third-quarter organic net sales finished below our expectations, driven largely by greater-than expected retailer inventory headwinds and a slowdown in snacking categories,” said Chairman and CEO Jeff Harmening said at the time.

About the Author

Dave Fusaro | Editor in Chief

Dave Fusaro has served as editor in chief of Food Processing magazine since 2003. Dave has 30 years experience in food & beverage industry journalism and has won several national ASBPE writing awards for his Food Processing stories. Dave has been interviewed on CNN, quoted in national newspapers and he authored a 200-page market research report on the milk industry. Formerly an award-winning newspaper reporter who specialized in business writing, he holds a BA in journalism from Marquette University. Prior to joining Food Processing, Dave was Editor-In-Chief of Dairy Foods and was Managing Editor of Prepared Foods.