"In the coming 3-5 years, we have three pillars of growth," said Su Qiang, who officially took office as President and Managing Director of General Mills China in July this year, speaking to Foodinc. These pillars are Häagen-Dazs and Wanchai Ferry, which are best known to Chinese consumers under the company's umbrella, and Blue Buffalo, the pet food brand that started testing the waters in China two years ago.

Picking up a pack of Wanchai Ferry microwave dumplings that debuted at last week's CIIE, Su Qiang said this was the first dumpling developed by Wanchai Ferry that doesn't require cooking, using a unique water-locking technology, ready to eat after just three and a half minutes in the microwave. This marks a new competitive breakthrough for Wanchai Ferry in the traditional frozen rice and flour domain: shifting from "ready-to-cook" to "ready-to-eat."

Next, Wanchai Ferry will lead with this "microwave dumpling" series, not only introducing more flavors of microwave dumplings but also "microwaving" more frozen products. Su Qiang believes Wanchai Ferry still has significant channel expansion opportunities. "We currently have over 80,000 sales outlets offline, but there are 550,000 in the entire frozen food market in China, so we still have a lot of room for expansion."

This frozen food giant is also actively exploring more consumer scenarios. A recent attempt is the launch of "BoBo Mini Balls," focusing on dessert concepts, targeting the afternoon tea scene.

When asked about the key consumer scenarios to focus on next, Su Qiang confidently told Foodinc, "Breakfast." He said microwave dumplings aim to address the pain points of breakfast by combining extreme convenience with healthy and delicious nutrition.

Regarding another brand, Häagen-Dazs, which occupies a significant portion of revenue, Su Qiang emphasized the keyword "interpreting classics" and doing what they do best.

In addition to Häagen-Dazs and Wanchai Ferry, General Mills is outlining a "third growth curve" in the Chinese market. As previously introduced, in 2018, General Mills acquired the US-listed company Blue Buffalo Pet Products for approximately $8 billion, marking its official entry into the pet food industry.

Last week, Blue Buffalo debuted at the CIIE with a new Chinese name "Lanzhi" and announced its entry into the Chinese market through all channels. This means that the brand will not only sell through e-commerce channels but also enter offline general trade channels.

"We have introduced a total of 11 products from six categories, with six products entering China through general trade channels this year," Su Qiang told Foodinc. He stated that in the future, Lanzhi will further expand its product line in China to meet diverse market demands for different pet breeds, ages, and special needs.