Responsibility

Bringing goodness to all we do

At General Mills one of our goals is to stand among the most socially responsible food companies in the world. General Mills is committed to doing good for our people, our food, our planet and our communities.

Globally we have made a number of important sustainability commitments including in a variety of areas.

Our Planet

We work to drive sustainability across our global operations and continually reduce our environmental impact. Our main focus areas include GHG emissions, energy use, water withdrawal and waste reduction with the ambition to Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030 vs 2020 baseline and reach net zero emissions by 2050 in alignment with the new SBTi 1.5oC guidance.

Advancing regenerative agriculture across the company’s sourcing footprint on 1 million acres by 2030 and activating programs across the ingredient categories with the largest GHG footprint is one of our engagements to reach that goal. 115,000 acres enrolled in programs advancing regenerative management last year.

Sourcing 100% renewable electricity for our global operations by 2030 is another one. A concrete example in Australia is the installation, in 2021, of solar panels at our Rooty Hill plant contributing to reduce the energy consumption onsite.

Packaging plays a critical role in preserving the safety, nutrition and quality of the food we make. General Mills works to reduce the environmental impact of our packaging by using materials designed for recycling, developing innovative packaging and advancing technical solutions through external collaboration. We are focused on protecting the attributes and safety of our products while giving consumers a positive experience with our packaging, from shelf to proper disposal. Given the many different types of packaging involved in our products, innovation in this space requires significant time, investment and collaboration. Our ambition is to design 95% of our packaging to be recyclable or reusable by end 2025 in Australia. As of today, nearly 90% of our packaging by weight is designed to be recyclable or reusable in Australia.

Another major goal that we have is to sustainably source the raw materials we use in our products. In 2020 we achieved sustainably sourcing 100 percent of our top 10 priority ingredients – representing more than 50 percent of our annual raw material purchases. Those 10 ingredients are: vanilla, cocoa, palm oil, sugarcane, oats, wheat, sugar beets, corn, dairy products and fiber packaging.

Due to the global avian influenza outbreak, we've had to temporarily source some caged eggs to keep our pasta products on Australian shelves. We remain committed to sourcing 100 per cent cage-free eggs and will use them again as soon as they’re available.

Our Communities

We are deeply committed to the communities where we live and operate and from which we source our ingredients. Our philanthropic partnerships and employee engagement aim to build strong, equitable and resilient communities.

In the last three years, we have built a strong partnership with FoodBank Australia. We support them through a yearly grant, regular food donations and employee volunteerism. We also participate to the Collaborative Supply Program: our Rooty Hill manufacturing plant in Western Sydney will continue to supply 10,000 dedicated meals of our Fresh pasta brand Latina™ Fresh every month to be distributed to those most in need. In 2021, our support allowed Foodbank Australia to donate 318,300 meals for people experiencing hardship.

General Mills Australia also supports The Smith Family’s core Learning for Life program – to provide students in need with a proven combination of financial, personal and practical support. Together, we’re empowering young Australians to overcome educational inequality caused by poverty.

For the second year in a row, we have partnered with the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation to provide under-resourced schools access to a Kitchen Garden Kickstart Grant, to be invested in infrastructure and program development. The grants have allowed greater access for students to get involved and benefit from the Kitchen Garden Foundations fun, hands-on approach to food education.

Our People

At General Mills, it’s all about our people. The passion, conviction, commitment, care and resilience that our people bring to everything we do at General Mills are what make the difference. We’re proud of our efforts to create a safe, inclusive and rewarding workplace. We invest in our people because their bold thoughts and big hearts allow us to grow together.

Our focus on people — including human rights and racial equity — extends across our value chain.

General Mills Australia is proud to be Great Place to Work-Certified™ for the third consecutive year. This certification recognizes our exceptional employee experience, driven by our culture of learning, growing and belonging.

At General Mills, G stands for Good.

For more information on our global commitments and progresses we made, read our annual Global Responsibility Report: https://www.generalmills.com.au/news/stories/doing-good-is-our-responsibility