General Mills Corporate Social Responsibility 2009

2009 Corporate Social Responsibility Table of contents To our stakeholders 1 Health Social Nourishing Lives 2 Raising the bar on healthy Working to make a difference 19 Environment products 4 Making progress on corporate Expanding brand philanthropy 20 Introduction and overview 42 responsibility measures 3 Encouraging healthy eating 5 Supporting breast Reaching up the food chain 43 Boosting cereal nutrition 6 cancer research 22 Promoting sustainable Improving product health profile 7 Helping feed agriculture 44 the hungry 23 Setting sustainable agriculture Reaching out to multicultural goals 45 consumers 24 Engaging employees 46 Helping rural businesses and schools 25 Focusing on the environment 47 Environmental auditing 47 Promoting weight-loss solutions 8 Promoting healthy lifestyles 26 Energy 47 Greenhouse gases 48 Integrating healthy messages 9 Supporting nonprofit organizations 27 Water 49 Encouraging vegetable Wastewater 49 consumption 10 Reaching out globally 28 Air emissions 50 Ozone-depleting substances 50 Continuing Wheaties tradition 11 Helping those in need 31 Hazardous materials 50 Transportation 51 Researching health and nutrition 12 Supporting diversity 32 Packaging 51 Bringing nutrition research to Rising employee satisfaction 34 Solid waste 52 consumers 13 Promoting employee wellness 35 Appendix Partnering with government, schools and industry 14 Achieving workplace safety 37 Company profile 53 Ensuring food safety and defense 16 Corporate governance 38 Company awards 54 Emerging Issues 17 Ethics and compliance program 40 Workplace Safety and Environmental Protection Responsible sourcing 41 corporate policy 55 Supplier Code of Conduct 56 Acknowledgements 57 © 2009 General Mills General Mills Corporate Social Responsibility To our stakeholders Welcome to our 2009 Corporate You’ll find specific examples of our We recognize that operating Social Responsibility Report. It’s initiatives, as well as the metrics a sustainable business is not written for you, our stakeholders, and criteria we use to measure a destination, but a journey including customers, consumers, our progress. of continuous improvement suppliers, shareholders, employees • In the health arena, for example, characterized by transparency. and many others who are affected we detail how we’ve improved by or interested in our business. Our goal at General Mills is to the health profile of products become one of the most socially Our mission at General Mills is that comprise 40 percent of the responsible consumer food companies “Nourishing Lives.” To fulfill that company’s U.S. retail sales. in the world. During this past year, mission, we believe we must do • On social commitments, we outline we have substantially strengthened more than achieve financial success. how our giving increased in fiscal our many teams that are responsible We must also make substantial year 2008, marking the eighth for the complex and varied aspects contributions to society and to the straight year that General Mills has of corporate social responsibility. Ken Powell environment that sustains our lives. contributed about 5 percent of our We believe we have made significant Chairman That commitment to integrate pretax profits to a wide variety of progress. At the same time, we Chief Executive Officer economic, social and environmental causes. recognize that we face many General Mills factors into a sustainable business • In the environmental arena, we challenges in the future. strategy is at the core of who and describe our strategy for reducing what we are. We hope this report will stimulate our environmental footprint and a dialog on what it means to be a You can learn more about General progress toward the five-year socially responsible company. We Mills’ economic success in our 2008 environmental goals to reduce our invite and welcome your comments, Annual Report. But in these pages, water, energy, greenhouse gas and questions and constructive criticism. we intend to provide an update on solid waste rates. Please join us in our efforts to create progress toward achieving our health, Corporate social responsibility a more sustainable General Mills, social and environmental goals. at General Mills begins with a and a more sustainable world. strong commitment to an unbiased Thank you. evaluation of our company’s societal and environmental impact. General Mills Corporate Social Responsibility Nourishing Lives™ Our mission is Nourishing Every day throughout the world our Throughout our history, we’ve Our Company Lives – to help make lives 29,500 employees work to: worked to be responsible corporate (fiscal 008) citizens – economically, socially healthier, easier and richer. Net sales $14.9 billion* Make lives healthier with foods and environmentally. And we’ve That mission expresses not such as Yoplait yogurt, Progresso only what we do, but why continued to be successful while Net earnings $1.3 billion soups, Green Giant vegetables and minimizing our environmental we do it. ready-to-eat whole grain cereals like Community footprint, all while serving the contributions $87 million Cheerios. needs of consumers, customers, Employees shareholders, employees and the 29,500 Make lives easier with more worldwide convenient foods such as Bisquick communities in which we live and work. Operates in baking mix, Nature Valley granola more than 100 countries bars, Wanchai Ferry dinner kits and Markets Chex Mix snacks. 100 consumer brands more than Make lives richer with foods that * Includes $. billion proportionate share of joint venture net sales. add to the experience of living – whether a Betty Crocker birthday cake, a dish of Häagen-Dazs ice cream, or a home-baked pie made with a Pillsbury pie crust. Regions with General Mills presence General Mills Corporate Social Responsibility Making progress on corporate responsibility measures We are able to advance our corporate Nourishing the Future – We are And we also recognize that Forbes, Ethisphere honor responsibility initiatives by measuring making progress on our five-year measuring our environmental General Mills progress against specific goals. goals to reduce our environmental impact against these four goals is impact. Our goals are to reduce: not a sufficient measure of all of our The way General Mills conducts Nourishing Lives – We recently sustainability initiatives. So we are business has been recognized by • Water usage rate by 5 percent set a new goal to improve the health in the process of developing a more several independent organizations by 2011. profile of products that comprise robust set of benchmarks to measure in 008. 45 percent of our U.S. retail sales by • Energy consumption rate by our progress. Forbes magazine ranked General 2010. We reached our earlier goal 15 percent by 2010. Mills as the fourth most respected of a 40 percent improvement ahead Our goal is to become one of the • Greenhouse gas emission rate company in the United States – and most socially responsible consumer of schedule, so we raised the bar. by 15 percent by 2010. the 11th most respected company food companies in the world. in the world. Nourishing Communities – For • Solid waste generation rate by nearly a decade, we have contributed 15 percent by 2010. The company was also named as about 5 percent of our pretax profits one of the “World’s Most Ethical We’re achieving reductions on two to charitable causes and reached that Companies” by the Ethisphere of the four goals. We’ve reduced threshold once again in fiscal 2008. Institute, a New York-based ethics our water usage rate by 3 percent think tank. In fiscal 2008, we donated nearly and solid waste generation rate by $87 million to communities 6 percent. “These companies consistently across the United States, Canada, demonstrate that doing business But our energy consumption and Mexico, China and many other the right way – ethically – can have greenhouse gas emission rates have countries. That’s an increase of a sustainable, positive impact on remained about the same. We 6.1 percent over fiscal 2007 and their performance and brand,” said acknowledge that we have a lot a 17.5 percent increase over fiscal Stephen Martin, editor-in-chief of of work ahead of us. Ethisphere magazine. 2006. In addition, we continue to encourage our employees to volunteer in their communities. Our recent survey found that 82 percent of U.S. General Mills has donated 9 acres employees volunteer. of wetlands to the city of Golden Valley, Minn., for its park system. The new General Mills Nature Preserve is adjacent to our world headquarters. General Mills Corporate Social Responsibility Health Social Environment Raising the bar on healthy products Over the past four years, we have Since fiscal 2005, 358 different Health metric standards improved the health profile of General Mills products have had products that comprise 40 percent their nutrition profile improved. General Mills products meet our of the company’s U.S. retail sales Some products – such as Yoplait health metric standard in a variety – well ahead of our 2010 target. The Go-GURT – have been reformulated of ways: new goal – as defined by our internal twice: once by fortifying the yogurt • Reducing the calories, fat, saturated health metric – is a 45 percent with vitamins A and D; and a second fat, trans fat, sugar or sodium improvement by 2010. time by reducing the fat content content by 10 percent. 25 percent. • Increasing beneficial nutrients, Each time we touch a product – whether it’s new including vitamins, minerals and “ fiber, by 10 percent. or existing – the health Improved health profile • Formulating products to include at metric motivates us to think of General Mills products* least a half serving of whole grain, about what big or small New Goal 45% fruit, vegetables or low or nonfat steps can be made.” 40% 2010 dairy. – Dr. Susan Crockett, 33% 2008 • Or by meeting the FDA guidelines leader of the General 2007 2007 for a product to be considered Mills Bell Institute of “healthy.” Health and Nutrition 21% 16% 2006 2006 2006 2005 2005 2005 2005 2005 2006 2007 2008 2010 Fiscal Year *U.S.

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