At Natural Products Expo East 2016, BevNET’s podcast team sat down with John Haugen, the vice president and general manager of General Mills’ 301 Inc. incubation unit. In this podcast, Haugen discusses how 301, which operates as a business development and venture capital arm of General Mills, evaluates opportunities for investment in emerging trends and early-stage companies and gives an update on the unit’s partnership with organic bottled soup brand Tio Gazpacho. He also explains why General Mills needs to redefine how it markets functional benefits and how finding “natural ways for food to work harder” is an important consideration in 301’s investment strategy.
