MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Today General Mills was named in Forbes as “The Most Reputable Company in America,” recognizing the company’s strong global reputation.

Reputation Institute, in partnership with Forbes Media, today released findings from their 2012 U.S. RepTrak™ Pulse, a study that measures the reputations of the 150 largest U.S. public companies. General Mills ranked No. 1 in the study, and saw its RepTrak score surge by 5.6 points this year.

“We sometimes refer to reputation as the immediate feeling that people have about a company when they hear the company’s name,” Anthony Johndrow, managing partner at Reputation Institute, told Forbes. “That feeling is based on both rational and emotional underlying causes, and influences how you act in support of that company as well as your purchasing decisions.”

Reputation Institute said General Mills scored No. 1 in citizenship, and scored in the top five in  products & services, governance, and leadership.

“We value our corporate reputation tremendously and we are constantly working to foster and honor the trust of our stakeholders,” said Ken Powell, chairman & CEO, General Mills.  “For General Mills, trust means delivering nutrition and value to our consumers through innovation, helping our customers grow, strengthening and engaging in our communities, operating sustainably and protecting the environment, as we invest in and develop our employees as leaders to grow our businesses around the world. We believe customers and consumers reward companies that operate with integrity and do what is right over the long-term — and that has long been core to General Mills’ DNA.”  

Overall, consumer products, food manufacturing, industrial products, computer, and transport and logistics companies scored highest in this year’s study.  Food companies scoring in the top ten include No. 1 General Mills, No. 2 Kraft, No. 4 Kellogg’s, No. 7 Coca-Cola and No. 9 Pepsi.

The recognition by Forbes and Reputation Institute follows many other honors for General Mills in the past year, including Forbes “World’s Most Innovative Companies,”  FORTUNE Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For,” and “Top Companies for Leaders,” Corporate Responsibility Magazine’s “100 Best Corporate Citizens,” Black Enterprise magazine’s “40 Best Companies for Diversity,” FORTUNE’s “America’s Most Admired Companies,” and many others, which can be found at: http://www.generalmills.com/Media/Awards.aspx

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Methodology
In the first quarter of 2012, Reputation Institute conducted an online study measuring consumers’ perceptions of companies among the 150 largest in the U.S. with which consumers were “somewhat” or “very” familiar. Each company earned a “RepTrak Pulse” score of 0 to 100, representing an average measure of people’s feelings–or reputation–for a company. Scores were statistically derived from four emotional indicators: trust, esteem, admiration, and good feeling.

Reputation Institute then analyzed what it calls the seven dimensions of corporate reputation. That’s where it found that perceptions of the enterprise (workplace, governance, citizenship, financial performance and leadership) trumped product perceptions (products and services plus innovation) in driving behaviors.

About General Mills
General Mills is one of the world’s leading food companies, operating in more than 100 countries. Its consumer brands include Cheerios, Häagen-Dazs, Nature Valley, Yoplait, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Green Giant, Progresso and Old El Paso. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, General Mills had fiscal 2011 net sales of US$14.9 billion.

For more information, contact:

Kirstie Foster
General Mills
763-764-6364