MINNEAPLOIS — General Mills, the parent company of a plethora of household food brands including Pillsbury, Annie’s, Betty Crocker, Nature Valley and more, is joining other bakery titans in stopping operations in Russia amidst its invasion of Ukraine.
Although the company does not have any wholly owned operations in the country, it does have a joint venture with Nestle — called Cereal Partners Worldwide (CPW) — for cereal sales outside of North America. Russia represents less than 1% of total sales for the company, but it has joined Nestle in ceasing advertising and capital investments in its CPW business in the country.
“We are deeply concerned and saddened by the tragic conflict unfolding in Ukraine,” the company said in a news release. “We are actively working on ways to help those impacted by this war through donations of food and water, including donations to food banks and local charities to help those in need in Ukraine and the neighboring countries.”
General Mills is one of several companies across business sectors to express its opinions on the war with its wallet. McDonald’s, which has been operating in Russia for nearly three decades, announced that it would temporarily close 850 of its restaurant locations last week, the New York Times reported. Starbucks and Coca-Cola soon followed suit, and Pepsi-Co said it would halt its soda sales in the region, although it would continue its operations that produce milk, dairy products and baby formula and food as a part of humanitarian efforts and to keep its thousands of farm and factory workers employed.
Kellogg’s and Mondelez International are also among bakery brands that have stopped doing various elements of business in the country, according to NBC.
