US food group General Mills has said it will look to the emerging markets for acquisition opportunities as the company faces a decline in domestic sales.

Speaking on the firm’s first-quarter earnings call yesterday (19 September), CFO Don Mulligan told analysts General Mills was “considered to be very active in looking” at potential merger and acquisition opportunities.

Go deeper with GlobalData

Premium Insights

The gold standard of business intelligence.

Find out more

“We’ve obviously done some pretty sizeable, and even one not sizable, strategic deals, in terms of our businesses that are at Yoplait, [Brazilian firm] Yoki, which got us a good position in the category and in a certain critical geography. And then with Food Should Taste Good in the US, which put us in a very different position in a category and particularly around a channel and a consumer need.”

Mulligan said the acquisitions had all helped grow the business in “key platforms” and helped accelerate the business and growth. As a result, the CFO said the company would “continue to look”.

He added: “Emerging markets is a focus for us. We have a great organically growing business in China. We now have an equally sizeable business in Brazil with a similar growth profile. But there are other emerging markets where we have small footprints, India for example, that we’d look to – will be looking to increase our size.

See Also:

“And then in the US and more broadly developed markets. Better-for-you snacking … [is] an area that’s of intense interest to us and is where we’ve added some businesses over the last couple of years, and we’ll continue to look in that area.”

How well do you really know your competitors?

Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

Company Profile – free sample

Thank you!

Your download email will arrive shortly

Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample

We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form

By GlobalData
Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.

General Mills yesterday (19 September) reported a 35% rise in net income for the first quarter to US$548.9m on the back of acquisitions and sales growth in Europe and Canada.

However, the Minneapolis-based company said US retail sales had fallen by 1% to $2.49bn, with operating profit down by 2% at $575m and retail pound volume down 2%.