The History of General MillsThe General Mills company, to which I was assigned, proved to be a worthwhile investment in research because it contains much of the market share of its “niche,” i.e. breakfast cereals and the like. In conducting the research necessary to find out whether a potential investor might be of interest to General Mills, we discover a myriad of things. By directing our attention to the spreadsheet, which contains the information we need to draw conclusions, we can see the patterns that develop over a 5 or 10 year period involving things like: the price of share, EPS, return on investment and many others. The following will, among other things, provide an overview of the history of General Mills. Tracing its history back to 1866, General Mills is one of America's largest food companies, employing 10,000 people worldwide and generating more than $5 billion in sales annually. Responsible for some of America's best-known foods, General Mills manufactures and distributes staples such as Betty Crocker cake mix, Gold Medal flour, Bisquick pancake mix, Yoplait yogurt and Popsecret popcorn . The company also makes breakfast cereals, including Cheerios, Trix, Lucky Charms and Cocoa Puffs. Its common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol GIS. The original name of General Mills was Washburn Crosby Company, which created the legendary Twin Cities broadcaster WCCO. The founders of Washburn Crosby Company included Congressman Cadwallader Colden Washburn. In 1990, General Mills and Nestlé launched a 50/50 joint venture called Cereal Partners Worldwide to market breakfast cereals in the United States and Europe. CPW distributes cereals made by both companies under the Nestlé brand. Just before that, in 1988, General Mills sold General Mills Specialty Retail Group, which was the parent company of Eddie Bauer and Talbots. Eddie Bauer is now gone. The company merged with Pillsbury in 2001. Although many Pillsbury brand products are still manufactured by General Mills, some products had to be sold to allow for the merger, as the new company would have held a very strong position. monopoly position.