General Mills plans to cut 700 more jobs in year

MINNEAPOLIS — General Mills on Thursday said it will begin a new round of cost-cutting, chiefly in its international division, that will result in the elimination of 675 to 725 jobs over the next year.

The process will affect 20 jobs in Minnesota, a company spokeswoman said.

The company, based in the Minneapolis suburb of Golden Valley, said it will take a pretax charge of up to $62 million to pay for the restructuring, chiefly for severance and other employee-related benefits.

General Mills said the action would result in annual cost savings of $45 million to $50 million.

The company, like other packaged-food makers, has been enduring flat to slightly lower sales for more than a year as more consumers shift to less-processed food that they perceive to be healthier.

Over the last year, General Mills eliminated 1,400 jobs, including many at its headquarters, though the company has declined to release specifics. Earlier this year, it announced two plant closings, though it also said it would expand another factory.

The restructuring in the U.S. over the past year was known as Project Catalyst inside General Mills. The program aimed at its international operations has been dubbed Project Compass.

(Star Tribune staff writer Mike Hughlett contributed to this report.)