General Mills sustainability score: 42/100
General Mills is a Minneapolis-based food manufacturer and packaged goods company founded in 1866, generating $19 billion in annual revenue. It operates globally across cereals, snacks, pet food, and yogurt.
More about General Mills
The company sits in the mid-tier of large FMCG peers on climate transparency but faces typical food sector challenges: supply chain emissions dependency and land-use accountability gaps.
Founded 1866Head office Minneapolis, Minnesota, USStaff ~35,000 (2011)Revenue $19.0B (FY2022)Website ↗
General Mills reports comprehensively on Scope 1 and 2 emissions with third-party verification and has nearly reached 100% renewable electricity. But Scope 3 dominates its footprint and transparency here collapses: no published FLAG baseline, no pesticide monitoring among regenerative suppliers, and a stalled packaging recycling rate. The company is on track for near-term SBTi targets but the hardest work—agricultural emissions reduction—remains largely unverified.
General Mills scores 42/100 (Below expectations) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Companies can never pay for anything about their own score. Last verified May 2026.
That places General Mills joint 357th of 934 companies scored, and joint 15th of 45 in FMCG / Consumer Goods.
What is General Mills doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Carbon Footprint: Operations and Energy Source (7/10, 7/10). Weakest on Carbon Footprint: Supply Chain and Nature & Biodiversity Impact (5/10, 5/10).
Where General Mills lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
- Emissions from its own operations7/10Its own emissions aren't independently verified or tracked over several years.
- Emissions from its supply chain5/10Most of its supply-chain (Scope 3) emissions aren't measured.
- Whether its emissions are falling6/10No consistent fall over several years across its operations and supply chain.
- How clean its energy is7/10Less than 90% of its energy shown to be renewable.
- Its effect on nature5/10Its effect on nature isn't measured or independently verified.
- How it uses materials and handles waste6/10No verified figures for reuse and recycling across the business.
- Its effect on water5/10No measured water footprint with reduction targets.
- Its climate targets6/10Its targets aren't validated by the Science Based Targets initiative.
- How openly it reports6/10No annual impact report, or no pay linked to climate targets.
- Its record on controversies7/10Points deducted for controversies or its business model. The finding is under question 10.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.
How is General Mills's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleWhat evidence is General Mills's score based on?
14 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
50% of them were published by General Mills itself; the rest come from independent sources.
Scored on 11 April 2026 under an earlier version of our method. We're re-checking it under the current method.
7 of 14 sources are independent of the company.
If you believe a source has been misread or a newer version exists, submit a challenge.
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How does General Mills compare with other fmcg / consumer goods companies?
Where General Mills sits among fmcg / consumer goods peers.
Among the 45 major fmcg / consumer goods brands we've scored, General Mills is tied =15th of 45, with 1 other.
Who scores higher in FMCG / Consumer Goods?
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above General Mills.
Chanel has cut absolute emissions 19% since 2021 and secured SBTi validation, but Scope 3 remains 98% of the footprint with weak supply-chain transparency.
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See the breakdown →Natracare reports its first comprehensive carbon footprint (2,664 tCO2e, 99% Scope 3) but the Scope 3 calculation is internally inconsistent, missing end-of-life and downstream transport.
See the breakdown →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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