General Mills raises annual sales forecast powered by at-home dining demand

[December 21, 2021]  (Reuters) - General Mills Inc raised its full-year sales forecast on Tuesday, boosted by strong demand for the Cheerios maker's cereals, snacks and baking products as the pandemic-induced at-home cooking boom held strong.

General Mills Inc's Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios are displayed on the shelf of a Whole Foods Market store in Venice, California, U.S., March 17, 2018. REUTERS/Lisa Baertlein

Consumers have continued with lockdown-induced habits of cooking and eating more at home even as they headed out to restaurants and bars after COVID-19 curbs eased, bolstering sales at packaged food makers.

General Mills also benefited from a surge in demand for pet treats as more people adopted cats and dogs last year to ease the stress of the pandemic, helping the company post a 29% increase in sales at its pet food division.

Sales at the Pillsbury dough maker's core North America retail business rose 2% in the second quarter ended Nov. 28.

The company now expects organic net sales to rise between 4% and 5% in fiscal 2022. It had earlier forecast annual organic sales to be towards the higher end of a 1% to 3% decline range.

Net sales rose to $5.02 billion in the reported quarter , from $4.72 billion a year earlier, beating estimates $4.84 billion, according to Refinitiv IBES.

(Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)

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