Business Segment Information

9 Months Ended

Feb. 26, 2012

Business Segment Information Details [Abstract]

Business Segment Information

(15) Business Segment Information

We operate in the consumer foods industry. We have three operating segments by type of customer and geographic region as follows: U.S. Retail; International; and Bakeries and Foodservice.

Our U.S. Retail segment reflects business with a wide variety of grocery stores, mass merchandisers, membership stores, natural food chains, and drug, dollar and discount chains operating throughout the United States. Our major product categories in this business segment are ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, ready-to-serve soup, dry dinners, shelf stable and frozen vegetables, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, grain, fruit and savory snacks, and a wide variety of organic products including soup, granola bars, and cereal.

Our International segment consists of retail and foodservice businesses outside of the United States. In Canada, our major product categories are ready-to-eat cereals, shelf stable and frozen vegetables, dry dinners, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, frozen pizza snacks, refrigerated yogurt, and grain and fruit snacks. In markets outside North America, our product categories include super-premium ice cream and frozen desserts, refrigerated yogurt, grain snacks, shelf stable and frozen vegetables, refrigerated and frozen dough products, and dry dinners. Our International segment also includes products manufactured in the United States for export, mainly to Caribbean and Latin American markets, as well as products we manufacture for sale to our international joint ventures. Revenues from export activities and franchise fees are reported in the region or country where the end customer is located.

In our Bakeries and Foodservice segment our major product categories are ready-to-eat cereals, snacks, yogurt, frozen dough products, baking mixes, and flour. Many products we sell are branded to the consumer and nearly all are branded to our customers. We sell to distributors and operators in many customer channels including foodservice, convenience stores, vending, and supermarket bakeries. Substantially all of this segment's operations are located in the United States.

Operating profit for these segments excludes unallocated corporate items, restructuring, impairment, and other exit costs, and divestiture gains and losses. Unallocated corporate items include corporate overhead expenses, variances to planned domestic employee benefits and incentives, contributions to the General Mills Foundation, and other items that are not part of our measurement of segment operating performance. These include gains and losses arising from the revaluation of certain grain inventories and gains and losses from mark-to-market valuation of certain commodity positions until passed back to our operating segments. These items affecting operating profit are centrally managed at the corporate level and are excluded from the measure of segment profitability reviewed by executive management. Under our supply chain organization, our manufacturing, warehouse, and distribution activities are substantially integrated across our operations in order to maximize efficiency and productivity. As a result, fixed assets and depreciation and amortization expenses are neither maintained nor available by operating segment.

Our operating segment results were as follows:

		Quarter Ended				Nine-Month Period Ended
In Millions		Feb. 26, 2012		Feb. 27, 2011		Feb. 26, 2012		Feb. 27, 2011
Net sales:
U.S. Retail	$	2,609.4	$	2,513.7	$	8,058.0	$	7,810.4
International		1,041.3		688.4		3,060.9		2,097.0
Bakeries and Foodservice		469.4		444.1		1,472.6		1,338.5
Total	$	4,120.1	$	3,646.2	$	12,591.5	$	11,245.9
Operating profit:
U.S. Retail	$	512.5	$	533.0	$	1,759.1	$	1,835.0
International		96.0		68.8		310.2		219.5
Bakeries and Foodservice		66.5		66.7		205.7		216.3
Total segment operating profit		675.0		668.5		2,275.0		2,270.8
Unallocated corporate items		6.3		27.9		249.7		44.9
Divestiture (gain)		-		(14.3)		-		(14.3)
Restructuring, impairment, and other exit costs		0.1		0.1		0.9		2.1
Operating profit	$	668.6	$	654.8	$	2,024.4	$	2,238.1