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General Mills BCG Matrix Essay

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BCG Matrix Analysis on General Mills Canada
General Mills is a company that has many brands in the food industry, however, they are more famously known for their individual brands. Their primary brands include Cheerios, Nature Valley, Pillsbury, Green Giant, Old El Paso, Hamburger Helper, Betty Crocker and Yoplait (General Mills Canada). When these brands are organized into different categories, General Mills’ product mix is the result. Taken right from General Mills Canada website and how they organize their brands for consumer friendliness, their product mix includes: baking products, cereals, dough/pastries, fruit, ice cream, meals, organic/natural, pasta, pizza, snacks, soup, vegetables, and yogurt. Each individual type in the product …show more content…

For a complete 8-year trend of cereals net sales, refer to Appendix D, which also shows a stable trend with very few fluctuations.

The Dog
In the BCG Matrix, dogs are also known as the products that “break-even” and generate only enough cash to cover the market share. The meal product line in General Mills can be identified with the dog. Based on the company’s 2014 Annual Report, it can be seen that meals have a relatively low market share of about 14%-15% (refer to Appendix A and B). However, what is shocking is that it has the lowest expected growth at about 5% (refer to Appendix C). Due to the fact that it does not have as a high a market share as cereals, the meal product line is identified with the dog. The meal product line is also relatively new for General Mills, however, it was introduced into a relatively established market. According to an article by The MinnPost, it reveals that General Mills did not introduce the meal product line until 2013. This is relatively late in the market since there are other companies that have ready-to-go meals since the 1980’s.

The Question Mark
A question mark in the BCG Matrix identifies the product that has most potential to grow; however, it is currently at a low market share stage. The organic / natural product line from General Mills’ fits this definition better than other products. To clarify, the organic / natural product line consists of vegetables and some

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