General Mills underlines 2019 outlook, remains focused on sales growth

General Mills underlines 2019 outlook, remains focused on sales growth

At major investment conference, the company said it must move faster with product creation. 

General Mills reaffirmed its guidance for 2019 financial performance on Tuesday and promised faster innovation to keep pace with changing consumers.

The Golden Valley-based food maker delivered the opening presentation at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York’s annual conference, a four-day meeting in Boca Raton, Fla., of large investors and executives from the biggest names in consumer goods.

Jeff Harmening, chief executive of General Mills, said the company will deliver on its mission of making food people love — and creating financial returns for its investors — by having a “relentless focus on the consumer … especially in the highly dynamic environment we find ourselves in today.”

The event, known as CAGNY, brings together the major consumer-packaged goods companies, from Clorox to Conagra Brands and PepsiCo to Procter & Gamble. Each company has 50 minutes to outline its business strategy, vision, challenges and strengths for analysts and investors. But unlike a quarterly earnings update, the audience includes executives from its industry peers.

General Mills outlined its long-term view for the company’s growth — which hinges on its ability to make new products consumers want to buy — while acknowledging its near-term challenges, like the rising cost of freight, balance-sheet adjustments to accommodate the acquisition of Blue Buffalo Pet Products and a fragmented media landscape that makes it harder to market foods en masse.

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