General Mills said Wednesday Chief Operating Officer Dana McNabb will succeed longtime CEO Jeff Harmening next year, tasking a company veteran with leading the Cheerios maker’s efforts to ride out a difficult spending environment.
Consumer goods firms have been changing CEOs as boards lose patience with sluggish growth and companies battle challenges including US tariff uncertainty, elevated supply chain costs from the conflict in the Middle East and connecting with younger shoppers.
McNabb, 50, will assume leadership as General Mills navigates intense competition from lower-priced private-label brands and higher costs, including tariff-related increases in packaging materials, while seeking price hikes to protect margins.
Under Harmening, who joined General Mills in 1994 and has served as CEO for nearly a decade, General Mills expanded into the faster-growing pet-food market through its Blue Buffalo acquisition, reshaped its portfolio and stepped up investment in digital capabilities. He will become executive chair when McNabb takes over on Jan. 1.
McNabb, who has spent 27 years at General Mills, has held several senior leadership roles across general management, enterprise strategy, marketing and international operations.
She will become General Mills’ first woman CEO and one of the relatively few women leading a major US consumer-products company.
Earlier this month, the company beat first-quarter sales and profit estimates and reaffirmed its annual forecast as price hikes and resilient demand for packaged food helped cushion the impact of higher input costs.
Shares of the company, which are down about 27% so far this year, were down 2% in midday trading.
