News & Press

General Mills, Inc. and Insta-Pro International to Form Partnership

August 19, 2010

Contact: Amanda Scott
Company Name: Insta-Pro International
Phone: 515-254-1260
Fax: 515-276-5749
Email: ascott@insta-pro.com

DES MOINES, IOWA, USA -Insta-Pro International of Des Moines, Iowa, USA, and General Mills, Inc., (GMI) headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, are pleased to announce their newly formed partnership. This partnership supports the work General Mills is doing in Africa that links the technical and business expertise of volunteer employees at General Mills to small- and medium-sized mills and food processors in Africa. General Mills’ goal is to improve the ability of those African companies to produce high-quality, nutritious and safe food at affordable prices and increase demand for the crops of small farmers who supply these businesses. Insta-Pro International, a technology leader in low cost, high shear extrusion, has had a presence in Africa for over 20 years creating a tremendous fit with this General Mills initiative.

With this partnership, Insta-Pro International will encourage clients and prospects to take advantage of General Mills expertise, provide technology consultation, and provide high quality equipment and support. Kevin Kacere, President and CEO of Insta-Pro International, states “Insta-Pro International has been successful for many years providing food and feed processing solutions which meet the needs of many producers in these African countries. We are pleased to partner with General Mills providing the equipment and know-how to use within General Mills’ volunteer initiative to assist small to medium sized processors in Africa. In addition, we are happy to provide General Mills with the assistance to expand their initiative through the many current relationships we have in Africa and with future marketing of this initiative.”

Likewise, General Mills will encourage its African partners to use Insta-Pro equipment when appropriate, and is working with Insta-Pro in R&D of new food products focused in Africa. John Mendesh, Vice President, Research & Development and Acting Africa Project Lead, says “General Mills has a mission to Nourish Lives in Africa, and we are seeing results, but we have so much more we can accomplish. A key to this growth is finding the right technology partner to assist us, and our research of the right supplier of this technology brought us to Insta-Pro. We are integrating the experienced Insta-Pro staff with our extrusion team to assist our partner producers with their extrusion and other processing needs.”

General Mills and Insta-Pro both share the long term goal to build self-sustaining food capabilities with the people of Africa while improving local economies.

About Insta-Pro International: Insta-Pro International manufactures and promotes extrusion and oilseed processing technologies worldwide. With a presence in over 100 countries, Insta-Pro International’s chemical-free, environmentally safe technologies provide safe, efficient and effective solutions for the food, feed and biofuel industries. To learn more, visit www.insta-pro.com.

About General Mills: One of the world’s leading food companies, General Mills operates in more than 100 countries and markets more than 100 consumer brands, including Cheerios, Häagen-Dazs, Nature Valley, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Green Giant, Old El Paso, Progresso, Cascadian Farm, Muir Glen and more. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, General Mills had fiscal 2009 global net sales of US $15.9 billion, including the company’s $1.2 billion proportionate share of joint venture net sales. In 2008, as part of its larger commitment to Africa, the company launched the General Mills Technology & Business Skills Transfer Initiative, which brings the technical and business expertise of its employees to bear on the challenges and opportunities of small and medium-sized food processing enterprises in Africa. Visit www.generalmills.com.