General Mills Divests From Subsidiary in Yehudah and Shomron

By Hamodia Staff

YERUSHALAYIM – The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) announced on Wednesday the victorious culmination of a two-year campaign calling on General Mills to stop making Pillsbury products in Yehudah and Shomron.

The AFSC, a Quaker organization, cited the company decision to divest from its Israeli business altogether.

General Mills divested its 60 percent stake in its Israeli subsidiary and sold it to Bodan Holdings, which until now held the other 40 percent. After this divestment, General Mills’ operations in Israel are fully owned by Bodan Holdings, whose owners are Israeli businesspeople Danny Nagel and Boaz Raam, the AFSC said.

The AFSC campaign was supported by the Palestinian Boycott National Committee, Jewish Voice for Peace, American Muslims for Palestine, SumOfUs, Women Against Military Madness, and other groups.

General Mills was singled out because it manufactures Pillsbury products in the Atarot Industrial Zone, located north of Yerushalayim.

In 2020, the United Nations included General Mills in its database of companies doing business in what it termed “illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.”

It is unclear whether, following this divestment, the factory would continue making Pillsbury products under a license agreement with General Mills.

“General Mills’ divestment shows that public pressure works even on the largest of corporations,” said Noam Perry of AFSC’s Economic Activism program, who called on all companies to follow suit.

In its announcement, General Mills did not mention any political concerns, saying only that “This divestiture represents another step in General Mills’ Accelerate strategy, which is centered on strategic choices about where to prioritize our resources to drive superior returns.  Internationally, the strategy includes efforts to reshape the company’s portfolio for sustainable, profitable growth by increasing its focus on advantaged global platforms, which include Mexican food, super-premium ice cream and snack bars. The divestiture follows our earlier announcement of the proposed sale of our European dough business.”