Category Captain: Frozen Vegetables: General Mills

General Mills is leading profitable growth in the $2.3 billion frozen vegetables category through new items, strong brand building support and category solutions that help retailers drive sales and profits. With its iconic Green Giant brand, General Mills continues to develop products that meet consumers’ needs for taste, convenience and health, and supports retailers by providing best-in-class category management insights and capabilities.

In addition to convenience such as steam-in-bag technology, taste and health are also primary consumer needs, and General Mills has innovated to address all three primary need states of the consumer. In fact, since 2004, General Mills has brought more new items to the category than its competitors.

The Valley Fresh Steamers line has expanded to include the new 100 percent natural Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli, and Pasta and Vegetables with Alfredo Sauce. Adding steam to its large-size bag in 2010, General Mills addressed the convenience needs of consumers, and new packaging will clearly create the value-size benefit to the consumer.

In fiscal year 2012, there will be an increase in TV support with dedicated “As Nutritious As Fresh” messaging and an increase in digital and online consumer support. In addition, there will be dedicated support for both regular and value-size offerings in the form of multiple FSI waves and in-store IRCs. Green Giant will also continue to support core news like Weight Watchers on the boxed vegetable line.

Further, using annual shelving audits, General Mills has identified which brands should be directly adjacent to each other, as well as how those brands should be shelved, to maximize sales rates.

A high level of commitment across strategic differentiators has resulted in consistent category growth in frozen vegetables and has elevated the leadership position of General Mills and its Green Giant brand.