USA – General Mills has appointed Kofi Bruce to succeed Don Mulligan as the company’s next chief financial officer among other several changes in its senior leadership team.
Mulligan is planning to retire effective June 1 of 2020 and will transition to an advisory capacity from February 2020.
The American branded consumer goods company said that Bruce, currently General Mills controller, will be promoted to vice president, financial operations, from September 2019, and will become CFO on 1 February 2020.
Bruce joined General Mills in 2009 following ten years of experience in various finance leadership roles at Ford Motor Company and Ecolab.
During his time at General Mills, he has served as treasurer; vice president, finance, for the U.S. yogurt operating unit; vice president, finance, for the convenience stores and foodservice segment and global revenue development.
General Mills said his leadership “has helped to deliver significant profit improvement through operating cost savings, lower financing costs and dramatic increases in the convenience stores and foodservice segment’s profitability”.
Mulligan has held the CFO role since 2007, overall company responsibility for worldwide finance, mergers and acquisitions, strategy, investor relations, external reporting, internal audit, tax and treasury.
“Don has been an incredible asset to General Mills for more than 20 years. During his tenure as CFO, General Mills generated a 185% increase in value to our shareholders,” said Chief Executive Jeff Harmening.
In addition,Billy Bishop will be exiting his role as president of the Blue Buffalo, subsidiary of General Mills that deals with pet products, on October 1.
Bishop, along with his father Bill Bishop Sr. and brother Chris, co-founded Blue Buffalo Pet Products in 2002 and was last year acquired by General Mills bought for US$8 billion.
Bishop will remain with the company through the end of the year and transition into a founder and brand adviser for the pet segment on January 1, 2020.
Bethany Quam, group president for Europe and Australia, will take over for Bishop on October 1.
Quam, who joined General Mills in 1993, has held various positions in the company across sales, finance and strategy, and served as group president, convenience stores and foodservice segment.
Dana McNabb, the current president for U.S. cereal, will succeed Quam in the role of group president for Europe and Australia starting January 1, 2020.
McNabb has been with General Mills for 20 years and has served in a variety of marketing leadership roles across multiple categories.
“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,” said Jeff Harmening, who is also the chairman of the board of General Mills.
