Weeks After Announcing Pre-Sale, General Mills Discontinues Alt-Dairy Brand

General Mills has discontinued with immediate effect its animal-free cream cheese brand Bold Cultr, just weeks after expanding its distribution and opening for online pre-orders nationwide.

An email announcing the closure was sent to the brand’s mailing list with a notice also posted to its website yesterday.

“Bold Cultr was a unique startup brand by G-Works, General Mills’ corporate venture studio, which deploys small teams to solve food-related consumer problems through innovation — testing and learning along the way,” the email and website closure announcements read. “G-Works regularly reviews its innovation portfolio and evaluates investment decisions. Recently, the difficult decision was made to deprioritize funding for Bold Cultr.”

Just over two weeks ago, Bold Cultr sent an email to its mailing list announcing the line was now available for pre-order nationwide with free shipping. No explanation for the change has yet been provided.

Made in collaboration with Israeli dairy protein company Remilk, Bold Cultr utilizes precision fermentation technology to create the whey protein used in its spreads. Available in Plain, Onion & Chive and Strawberry, the brand first entered the market in January 2022, initially tested at Rise Bagel Co., a Minneapolis artisan bagel shop, before expanding into independent retailers.

The brand’s website mentions Shreds and Slices product lines on its FAQ page, though no such product has yet been released. Customers who have not yet received their online orders are being encouraged to email the brand, according to the notice.

“Co-founded” by General Mills employees Drake Ellingboe, Laura Engstrom and Illeme Amegatcher, Bold Cultr was developed as part of G-Works, General Mills’ in-house innovation studio, which in itself, is part of Gold Medal Ventures, General Mills’ venture arm.

“[Our innovation strategy] starts with solving real consumer problems, developing breakthrough solutions – and then fueling those brands using the scale and capabilities of General Mills to accelerate their growth,” Doug Martin, General Mills chief disruptive growth officer, wrote of the launch in a 2021 company blog post. “This first product from Bold Cultr is proof positive that we’re finding new ways to test and learn outside of our core portfolio and in a whitespace of the food industry.”

Both of G-Works’ other ventures – Doolies, a children’s snack brand with functional benefits aimed at preventing constipation, and Good Measure, a line of “blood sugar-friendly snacks” – appear to still be operating. The latter recently released two new flavors of its almond crisps and is currently listed as an exhibitor at next week’s Natural Products Expo West trade show.

Although the first iteration of Bold Cultr was made in partnership with alt-dairy creator Perfect Day, the current Bold Cultr formulation utilizes whey proteins developed by Perfect Day’s competitor, Remilk.

However, General Mills wasn’t Perfect Day’s only plan to enter the category. The company also partnered with Bel Brands, the makers of Laughing Cow, to launch Nurishh animal-free cream cheese, and released its own line of Modern Kitchen animal-free cream cheese via its CPG arm The Urgent Company. Both Nurishh and Modern Kitchen offer Strawberry, Plain and Onion & Chive flavors.

General Mills has been evolving its incubation and investment strategy over the past two years, folding its venture arm 301 Inc into Gold Medal Ventures, while also exploring placing capital in external funds. After the departure of 301’s founder and managing director John Haugen and co-founder Pete Speranza in 2021 and 2020, respectively, 301 has slowed the pace of investments and has turned to placing capital in suppliers and food/ag tech players such as Beehero (pollination tech), GrubMarket (a software platform connecting farmers and food suppliers) and Myplas (film recycling).

Haugen, meanwhile, has moved over to manage SEMCAP’s Food and Nutrition fund, where under his leadership, the firm has invested in Good Culture and Purely Elizabeth, buying out General Mills’ shares in those brands.

According to the Gold Medal Ventures’ website, 301 also has exited Kite Hill, which produces almond-based non-dairy yogurt, cheese, butter, filled pastas and cream cheese.

The decision to axe Bold Cultr comes against the backdrop of General Mills’ Accelerate Strategy, an initiative to “deliver profitable growth and top-tier shareholder returns.” however, the company has maintained its emphasis on innovation.

However, speaking at last week’s annual Consumer Analyst Group New York (CAGNY) conference, General Mills CEO and chairman Jeff Harmening emphasized that “relentlessly innovating,” via efforts such as G-Works, was a cornerstone of its Accelerate Strategy, while simultaneously playing up the company’s commitment to trimming operating costs in order to drive shareholder value

Slides shown at CAGNY (see image above) to support the company’s emphasis on innovation included images of Bold Cultr and Good Measure, though Doolies was not featured.

“Relentless innovation is essential to maintaining vibrant brands and is the lifeblood of a consumer product’s company. We think of innovation on a spectrum from launching close-end new products that provide consumers variety to fostering white space exploration through G-Works, our internal start-up accelerator, to investing in emerging brands through our 301 Inc. investment arm, to fully acquiring new businesses,” Harmening said at the conference. “We continue to leverage each of these innovation tools to help us win today and to set us up for success tomorrow.”