Clinton lauds company's Africa efforts as 'huge deal'

It's not every day that General Mills gets a ringing endorsement from a world leader on a world stage.

But that's what happened last week, when former U.S. President Bill Clinton highlighted the company's Partners in Food Solutions (PFS) work at the 2012 Clinton Global Initiative gathering in New York City.

Going off script, Clinton noted the ongoing debate on how to feed the world's 7 billion people and the 9 billion expected to inhabit the earth by 2050. He praised General Mills' work to alleviate hunger by boosting the capabilities of small holder farmers through PFS, which currently has 400 volunteers working with 30 food processing companies on 82 projects in Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania and Malawi.

"I believe General Mills is giving us a path forward into the future," Clinton said. "This is a potentially profoundly important commitment. Thank you Kim Nelson, thank you General Mills.”

Nelson, senior vice president of External Relations and president of the General Mills Foundation, shared the stage with Clinton briefly as she highlighted the progress of other Clinton Global Initiative commitment makers.

It wasn't the first time the former president praised General Mills, including its philanthropic efforts in Africa.

At the National Sales Meeting in 2010, Clinton said, “This is a great company. I hope you can lead the business community in America.”