After Flat Quarter, General Mills' Pivot to "Remarkability" Is the Right Strategy, Wrong Execution

While the stock market surges to new highs on the backs of AI companies, many consumer-focused brands are struggling. Persistent inflation and affordability concerns have caused many shoppers to rethink their spending habits, particularly in categories like grocery. That's caused many big food conglomerates to struggle, including General Mills, which has seen its stock price drop by nearly 30% over the past year.

In its most recent earnings, reported on July 1, 2026, General Mills had flat organic sales for the quarter (year over year) while sales for the full fiscal year dropped by 2%.

"The consumer backdrop became more challenging, with recent consumer sentiment in the U.S. hitting record lows," said Jeff Harmening, chairman and CEO of General Mills, in prepared earnings remarks. "And as consumers remained pressured, we saw them buying more on promotion and less at everyday prices."

Pivoting to Protein

To try to turn things around, General Mills focused this past fiscal year on lowering prices for some of its core products, and going into this next fiscal year, it's focusing on what it calls "remarkability." Essentially, General Mills wants to give consumers more of a reason to choose its products over competitors.

"We're not anticipating an improved consumer environment or improved category environment. We're going to make our own success this year," said Harmening during the earnings Q&A.

That strategy involves tapping into the benefits that consumers today care about, like functional nutrition. But arguably the most visible way General Mills is addressing this trend is by highlighting or adding protein to its products, including across its stalwart brands like Cheerios and Nature Valley.

While that might lead to some short-term bumps — General Mills reported that Cheerios grew household penetration in fiscal year 2026 for the first time in over five years — it seems like this is chasing a saturated trend, rather than building durable differentiation. 

Already, the winds seem to be shifting away from protein toward fiber, or at least tying protein and fiber together, as CNN reported earlier this year.

To grow long term, and to stand out more from competitors who can also easily focus on protein, General Mills should focus more on elevating its existing brands and products that already have better for you/better for planet attributes. 

Going Deeper With Existing Brands

One brand that was absent from General Mills' latest earnings report and call was Cascadian Farm. The brand, which focuses on organic, planet-friendly ingredients, began over 50 years ago and was acquired by General Mills at the turn of the millennium. Yet it still feels small and authentic, which might explain why it's been growing amidst legacy cereal brands' struggles. 

In 2025, Cascadian Farm retail sales grew by 13%, while Cheerios and Trix declined by 4%, according to Circana data, as reported in the Minnesota Star Tribune. Cascadian Farm's success resembles the fast growth of other better-for-you entrants into the cereal aisle, like Lovebird (started by a former General Mills employee) and Seven Sundays, which have seen sales more than double annually since the pandemic, the Star Tribune noted.

That's not to say that General Mills is ignoring Cascadian Farm — it does market initiatives, like how it's incorporating climate-friendly Kernza grains into more of its cereals — but the sales data suggests that there's more opportunity to lean into these more wholesome offerings, rather than slapping protein onto labels. Investors might be more encouraged if General Mills presented a plan to get Cascadian Farm into more households.

Even for Cheerios, there's arguably more General Mills could be doing to highlight the built-in advantage of having oats as a main ingredient. The brand has long focused on heart health, but it could also do more to highlight the fiber and B vitamins naturally occurring in oats, which taps into trends around feeling full yet energized.  

The brand could also tap into the surging popularity of strength training, with oats long being a favored grain among bodybuilders. And to reach a sustainability-minded audience, without alienating those focused on health, Cheerios could do a better job highlighting its efforts to scale regeneratively grown oats. Doing so could help diversify its marketing, so even if the protein craze fades, it has roots in other areas.

This might look similar to General Mills' treatment of its Annie's brand, which has a long history of wellness orientation, and which it does seem to be smartly going deeper on. As Dana McNabb, General Mills' chief operating officer, noted in prepared earnings remarks, Annie's had a strong fiscal 2026, growing in both dollars and household penetration. 

For fiscal 2027, the company is expanding the offerings and availability of Annie's Super Mac — which was already on the leading edge of tying protein and fiber together, rather than chasing a trend — as well as bringing more real fruit and fiber into Annie's fruit snacks.

Ultimately, in a consumer environment that seems unlikely to dramatically improve anytime soon, food brands need to give consumers more distinct reasons to choose one product over another. When the benefits are obvious — especially around health, and sometimes around planet — many consumers are willing to open up their wallets. But if you're just chasing protein trends instead of leaning into what makes your brand more distinct, including its history, sourcing, and complete nutritional profile, then it could be hard to stand out.