The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[DewDiligence]

GIS cuts workforce:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303610504577420031986665336.html

General Mills Inc. is cutting 850 jobs as part of a restructuring plan… The job cuts amount to about 2.4% of General Mills' global workforce of 35,000. Administrative and support positions will be most affected…

General Mills—maker of brands like Cheerios cereal, Yoplait yogurt and Betty Crocker baking products—and other food makers are struggling to find growth in a packaged food industry where consumers are visiting supermarkets less and buying fewer products when they do. The challenges are particularly acute in the center-store supermarket aisles, where several companies, including General Mills, ConAgra Foods Inc. and Campbell Soup Co. find it harder to sell more products, partly as consumers balk at higher prices.

Note that HNZ is not mentioned here as a company experiencing such problems (although it is to some degree); one reason for the omission may be that HNZ is a bigger beneficiary of TGDT than most US-based food companies.

p.s. HNZ reports FY4Q12 earnings tomorrow.