MINNEAPOLIS —General Mills has made several changes to its senior leadership team. Chief Financial Officer Don Mulligan will transition to an advisory capacity effective Feb. 1 and will retire June 1.
The company has promoted controller Kofi Bruce, who previously worked as vice president of finance for General Mills’ convenience stores and foodservice segment, to vice president of financial operations as of Sept. 1. He will succeed Mulligan as CFO on Feb. 1, 2020.
“I’m proud of the depth and diversity of General Mills’ leadership talent, which is reflected in the quality of the people transitioning to and from our senior leadership team,” said Jeff Harmening, chairman and CEO of General Mills. “To ensure that we continue to execute well and to deliver on our commitments to improve sales growth and strong profitability, we have been intentional in the timing of our transitions.”
Mulligan has been with the Minneapolis-based company for 21 years and has held the CFO role since 2007. He helped craft plans that balanced long-term growth and profitability and developed and mentored critical finance and cross-functional talent, Harmening said.
“Don has been an incredible asset to General Mills for more than 20 years,” Harmening said. “During his tenure as CFO, General Mills generated a 185% increase in value to our shareholders.”
Bruce joined General Mills in 2009; before that, he worked in various finance leadership roles at Ford Motor Co. and Ecolab. His leadership at General Mills helped deliver significant profit improvement, according to the company, and he is known for his ability to work cross-functionally in developing and implementing creative, sustainable solutions to complex organization challenges.
The company also will promote Dana McNabb, president of U.S. Cereal, to group president for the Europe and Australia segment, effective Jan. 1, 2020. McNabb has been with General Mills for 20 years and has held a variety of marketing leadership roles across multiple categories. She has been in her current role since 2016. Under her leadership, cereals achieved category leadership in the United States for the first time in more than 10 years, led category pricing, modernized marketing and delivered top new products in the category, the company said.
General Mills is a global food company with brands including Cheerios, Annie’s, Yoplait, Nature Valley, Haagen-Dazs, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Old El Paso, Wanchai Ferry, Yoki and Blue. The business generated fiscal 2019 net sales of $16.9 billion.
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