Miller Magazine Issue: 144 December 2021

48 MILLER / december 2021 NEWS General Mills announced that it has agreed to sell its European dough businesses to Cérélia, a global leader in ready-to-bake dough solutions. The proposed transac- tions would include General Mills branded and private label dough businesses in Germany, the UK, and Ire- land, including the Knack & Back and Jus-Rol brands. Each of the transactions is expected to close by the end of fiscal 2022, with the German transaction subject to appropriate labor consul- tations, regulatory approv- als, and other customary closing conditions. These divestitures represent another step in the Gener- al Mills Accelerate strategy, which is centered on clear priorities on where to play – across geographies as well as platforms and brands – to drive long-term, supe- rior shareholder returns. Internationally, the strategy includes efforts to reshape the company’s portfolio for sustainable, profitable growth by increasing its fo- cus on advantaged global platforms, which include Mexican food, super-premi- um ice cream and snack bars. General Mills to sell its European dough businesses to Cérélia In 2020, the economic accounts for agri- culture show that total agricultural output in the EU stood at €414,1 billion in basic prices, down by 1.1% compared with 2019. This infor- mation comes from final 2020 estimates on the agriculture sector published recently by Eurostat. With €76.3 bn (or about 18.4% of the EU to- tal) in 2020, France had the highest total ag- ricultural output among the Member States, followed by Germany (€57.6 bn, or 13.9%), It- aly (€56.9 bn, or also 13.7%), Spain (€52.3 bn, or 12.6%), the Netherlands (€28.2 bn, or 6.8%) and Poland (€26.4 bn, or 6.4%). In 2020, 11 out of 27 EU Member States reg- istered a decrease in the value of agricultural output. The biggest declines were recorded in Romania (-11.3%), Malta and Bulgaria (both -4.5%), Finland (-3.9%), Hungary and the Neth- erlands (both -3.1%). In contrast, the highest increases, in relative terms, were registered in Lithuania (+8.6%), Ireland (+4.6%), Slovakia (+3.8%), Latvia (+3.1%) and Cyprus (+2.8%). Among the Member States with the largest agricultural industry, the value of total agricul- tural output decreased by 2.3% in Italy, 1.9% in France, and 1.6% in Germany, while it in- creased by 1.1% in Spain. The value of both EU’s crop and animal output registered de- creases of 1.0% and 1.1%, respectively. When it comes to EU agricultural input costs (intermediate consumption), there was a slight decrease of 1.1%, as compared to the previous year, which resulted in a stronger rate of decline ( 1.3%) in the gross value add- ed generated by agriculture. Agricultural output of the EU down by 1%