Insight - What Big Food can learn from its Covid-19 bonanza

Bumper sales: General Mills Inc’s Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios are displayed on the shelf of a Whole Foods Market store in Venice, California recently. The company reported organic sales shot up 16% in the quarter from a year earlier. — Reuters

YOU probably need only look inside your own pantry to have some idea of what a blockbuster spring it has been for the packaged food industry.

General Mills Inc reported Wednesday that organic sales, a measure that excludes currency fluctuations and other factors, shot up 16% in the quarter from a year earlier as people loaded up on Gold Medal flour, Cheerios, and Pillsbury rolls to ride out the pandemic. A day earlier, Conagra Brands Inc, corporate parent of labels such as Duncan Hines and Marie Callender’s, reported similarly robust growth, with quarterly organic sales rising 22% from a year earlier.