General Mills Supports Creation of New Food Science Division at YourEncore™
Partnership Builds on General Mills’ Open Innovation Initiative and Helps Grow YourEncore’s Network of Retired Professionals
07/10/2007
Further advancing its ongoing open innovation strategy, General Mills today announced a significant new collaboration to develop a Food Science division within YourEncore™, an innovation services company that helps organizations accelerate innovation by leveraging the expertise of retired scientists and engineers. The development of the new division represents an expansion of the ongoing partnership between the two companies.The new division will recruit additional scientists and engineers with focused expertise to add to YourEncore’s existing base of technical experts. The new dedicated Food Science division will enable expert teams to be formed quickly to fuel innovation across the food industry. Potential projects and service offerings include new product commercialization, product innovation and technical problem solving. YourEncore took a similar approach in developing its Life Science division to serve clients in the pharmaceutical and medical fields.
“General Mills’ Worldwide Innovation Network, our open innovation initiative, has proven to be a key resource and growth accelerator for the company,” said Peter Erickson, General Mills senior vice president of innovation, technology and quality. “Central to our ongoing strategy is the expansion of our network of external resources that can contribute to our innovation efforts, and tapping experienced food industry experts through YourEncore will certainly fulfill that objective.”
As part of the expanded partnership between General Mills and YourEncore, General Mills will provide senior technical leadership support and industry insight to the YourEncore organization to help develop the new Food Science capabilities. General Mills also has made a financial investment in YourEncore.
“Food science is an important growth area for us, and we are excited to be working with General Mills to formalize and build a business division around it,” said Brad Lawson, president and CEO, YourEncore. “We have had a wonderful business relationship with General Mills. They understand and value open innovation and have benefited from the insights and experiences of YourEncore experts. The Food Science division will be an extension of that.”
Through its Worldwide Innovation Network (G-WIN), General Mills seeks external partners to complement and accelerate its innovation efforts. In addition to working with external resources to solve technical challenges, the G-WIN team also seeks potential partners with patented technologies or commercialized products that would be complementary to its brands and businesses. Prospective partners may contact General Mills online through a Web portal at www.generalmills.com/win, or by calling 763-764-4946 (GWIN).
About General Mills
General Mills is a leading global manufacturer and marketer of consumer foods products. Its global brand portfolio includes Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Green Giant, Häagen-Dazs, Old El Paso and more. It also has more than 100 U.S. consumer brands, more than 30 of which generate annual retail sales in excess of $100 million. General Mills also is a leading supplier of baking and other food products to the foodservice and commercial baking industries.
About YourEncore
YourEncore (http://www.yourencore.com)helps companies accelerate innovation by leveraging the expertise of retired scientists and engineers. YourEncore provides these services to industry-leading companies using a secure and confidential business environment. Procter & Gamble, Eli Lilly and Company, The Boeing Company, General Mills, National Starch and other Fortune 500 companies engage with YourEncore to leverage external innovation as a means to accelerate growth. YourEncore experts specialize in the life sciences, consumer sciences, food sciences, specialty materials, and aerospace and defense industries. YourEncore is headquartered in Indianapolis.
For More Information, Contact:
Mandy Hunsicker, Manning Selvage & Lee
404-870-6815
Kirstie Foster, General Mills
763-764-6364
For YourEncore:
Linda Muskin: 847-432-7300
Mara Conklin: 847-816-9411
