MINNEAPOLIS — Product innovation is the name of the game for General Mills, as it aims to restore volume-driven sales growth into 2026. On June 25, the company released its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2025 financials for the period ended May 25, sharing plans to ramp up growth for its pet food business. 

“…We’ll invest further in consumer value, product news, innovation and brand building, guided by our remarkable experience framework and highlighted by Blue Buffalo’s national launch into fresh pet food coming later in calendar 2025,” said Jeff Harmening, chief executive officer of General Mills. “We’ll continue to drive best-in-class Holistic Margin Management cost savings, and we’ll transform how we work through our global transformation initiative to help unlock more resources for growth. With a clear framework centered on remarkability and positive early returns from our fourth quarter investments, I’m confident our fiscal 2026 plans will put us on a path back to driving long-term growth in line with our shareholder return model.”

Fourth quarter net sales for its North America Pet segment were reported at $675 million, a 12% increase from $602 million in the prior year period. This included a nine-point benefit from General Mills’ acquisition of the North American Whitebridge Pet Brands business. Organic net sales were up 3% year-over-year and outpaced all-channel retail sales by about three points. The company attributed this to an increase in retailer inventory. 

Segment operating profit was $140 million, a 3% decrease from $144 million in the prior year period, which the company attributed to higher input costs and a double-digit increase in media investment, partially offset by favorable net price realization and mix, as well as higher volume. 

Breaking down performance by product format, General Mills shared that fourth quarter net sales rose double digits for wet pet food and pet treats and mid-single digits for dry pet food. This includes the Whitebridge acquisition. 

For the full year, net sales for the North America Pet segment were reported at $2.5 billion, a 4% increase from $2.4 billion in the prior year. Organic net sales remained stagnant with higher organic pound volume offset by unfavorable organic net price realization and mix. Segment operating profit was $501 million, a 3% increase from $485.9 million in the prior year.

General Mills shared that the segment improved its competitiveness and grew market share in dog feeding, which represented about 60% of the company’s US retail sales. 

To continue growth in its pet business, one of General Mills’ priorities for 2026 is to grow its core Blue Buffalo brand and foster category expansion. 

“We’ll do that by continuing to build on our improving momentum on our core Blue Buffalo lines, and by investing to expand into new, fast-growing spaces,” Harmening revealed. “Our plans in fiscal 2026 start with strong news on our Life Protection Formula (LPF) and Wilderness dog feeding lines, which are the heritage of the Blue Buffalo business. Having ensured our value is in the right zone, we’re increasing investment behind ingredient superiority advertising on both LPF and Wilderness, building on the success those campaigns drove in fiscal 2025. And we’ll expand support behind our new salmon innovation, which brings a fast-growing protein option to the Life Protection Formula line.”

In line with this effort, General Mills is making a leap into the fresh pet food category, launching its new line — Love Made Fresh — under Blue Buffalo. According to Harmening, this launch will provide Blue Buffalo with a “remarkable, differentiated offering” in the $3 billion fresh category, which the company expects to reach $10 billion in the next ten years. 

“This new line of fresh dog food adheres to Blue Buffalo’s trusted ‘True Blue’ nutritional philosophy and superior ingredients, with fresh offerings across multiple product formats and a variety of flavorful recipes,” he said. “…Our Love Made Fresh refrigerated products are designed to be perfect companions to Blue Buffalo’s portfolio of dry dog food or a standalone solution. In fact, with this launch, Blue Buffalo will be the largest US pet brand to offer solutions across dry, wet and fresh feeding. And with more than 80% of fresh food usage occasions involving a mix of fresh food and kibble, we think the combined Blue Buffalo portfolio will be well positioned to deliver remarkable feeding solutions that capture the whole bowl.

“We’re planning for significant investment in fiscal 2026 behind this launch, including strong media support to drive trial and awareness, and we’ve already seen significant early retail customer acceptance,” Harmening added. 

In addition to Love Made Fresh, the company also plans to debut its European brand Edgard & Cooper, which was acquired in April 2024, in the United States next month through an exclusive partnership with pet retail giant PetSmart. 

“This super-premium brand has driven outstanding growth across its European markets since we acquired it a year ago,” Harmening revealed. “Our US launch will maintain Edgard & Cooper’s fresh take on pet nutrition, with dry food, wet food and treat recipes made with real, recognizable ingredients like fresh chicken, venison and duck, combined with nutritious fruits and vegetables. The national PetSmart launch will leverage Edgard & Cooper’s digital-first and social marketing approach — a proven driver of the brand’s rapid growth in Europe.”

In the cat nutrition arena, General Mills will focus on its Blue Buffalo Tastefuls line, which experienced mid-single digital retail sales growth in the 2025 fiscal year. Additionally, the company’s acquisition of Whitebridge Pet Brands’ North American business, which includes brand Tiki Cat, is expected to further advance its foothold in cat nutrition. 

“Our plans in fiscal 2026 include increased media investment highlighting Tastefuls’ ingredient quality and taste preference versus the leading brand in the category,” Harmening detailed. “And we’ll accelerate our growth in cat feeding with our recently acquired Tiki Cat brand, which has enjoyed strong double-digit retail sales growth in pet specialty and e-commerce channels in recent years. In fiscal 2026, we’re focused on growing Tiki Cat through increased core news, including a new Tiki Solutions sub-line, as well as a double-digit increase in e-commerce investment.”

All this activity is expected to accelerate General Mills’ North America Pet organic net sales in the 2026 fiscal year. However, first quarter growth for 2026 is expected to be hit with unwinds of fourth quarter inventory build, according to Kofi Bruce, chief financial officer of General Mills.

Overall, fourth quarter new sales were reported at $4.6 billion, a 3% decrease from $4.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024. The company attributed this decrease to lower pound volume and unfavorable net price realization and mix. Organic net sales also dropped 3%, which included headwinds from unfavorable trade expense timing. Organic pound volume was in line with last year. 

Gross margin represented 32.4% of net sales, a drop of 340 basis points, due to higher input costs, unfavorable net price realization and mix. Operating profit was reported at $504 million, a 35% decrease from $779.2 million in the prior year, which was attributed to lower gross profit dollars and higher selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses. Adjusted operating profit was $622 million, a 22% decrease year-over-year. 

Full year net sales were reported at $19.5 billion, a 2% decrease from $19.9 billion in the prior year. General Mills attributed this decrease to lower pound volume and unfavorable net price realization and mix. Organic net sales dropped 2%. 

Gross margin was 34.6% of net sales, a decrease of 30 basis points, which the company attributed to input cost inflation, unfavorable net price realization and mix, and volume deleverage. Operating profit was reported at $3.3 billion, a 4% decrease from $3.4 billion in the prior year. Adjusted operating profit was $3.4 billion, a 7% decrease. 

“The investments we made in second half of fiscal 2025 in greater consumer value, product news and innovation have worked as we expected, driving improved volume and pound share across our portfolio in the fourth quarter,” Harmening said. “Our fourth quarter financial results finished in line with our expectations and our updated guidance. And we’re clear on the job to do in fiscal 2026, which is to restore volume-driven organic sales growth by investing to deliver greater remarkability in our products and packaging, our messaging, our omni-channel execution, and value for consumers.”

In addition to its financial performance, General Mills also provided its guidance for 2026. Organic net sales are expected to be between down 1% and up 1%. Adjusted operating profit is expected to be down 10% to 15% from $3.4 billion reported in fiscal 2025. 

“As we head into fiscal 2026, we expect the operating environment will remain volatile, with consumers pressured by widespread uncertainty from tariffs, global conflicts and changing regulations,” Harmening detailed. “Amid this uncertainty, we expect consumers to remain cautious and continue seeking value, prioritizing their spending on benefits that matter most to them, like protein, bold flavors, and the comfort of familiar and fun brands and experiences. And we expect consumers won’t just focus on benefits for themselves — pet parents will continue to prioritize spending on their pets, driven by the broader macro-trend toward pet humanization.”

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