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 General Mills opens up to 'crowdsourcing' Minimize
Location: BlogsInnoGRIPSEarly Career Researchers Workshop – Open Innovation and IPR    
Posted by: jhayden 3/17/2009 2:27 PM
Not long ago the giant international foodstuffs company General Mills refused outsider innovations that arrived at their doorstep because of the external origination. Today, they are embracing 'open innovation' models including the strategic use of crowdsourcing.
Not long ago the giant international foodstuffs company General Mills refused outsider innovations that arrived at their doorstep because of the external origination. Today, they are embracing 'open innovation' models including the strategic use of crowdsourcing with both consumers and business partners. They have had a b2b site established for better than two years and are now gearing up to launch a consumer based site similar to those already on offer from the likes of companies such as Starbucks (see http://mystarbucksidea.force.com/).

General Mills is responsible for the 'disruptive innovation' called Go-Gurt, which is yogurt packaged in a squeezable tube intended to be eaten by children 'on the run.' This innovation opened up a once stagnant yogurt market by capturing a field of previous nonconsumers because the novel packaging allowed the product to be consumed without sitting down with a spoon. Partenering this successful product with a license from Brigham Young University for carbonated yogurt, has brought an additional product to market called Go-Gurt Fizzix. 

See the recent article from Finance & Commerce here: General Mills, Best Buy among companies using 'crowdsourcing' sites to foster innovation

Here is the press release for Go-gurt Fizzix launch citing the Brigham Young license: Fizzify Your Tongue

From Entreprenuer.com: Crowdsourcing: Free Problem-Solving for Your Biz

And from Consumer Goods Technology: General Mills Innovates From the Outside In
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