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MSP

Land
of Plenty
With a focus on ingenuity, innovation and
inspiration, Minnesota serves up some of the
worlds favorite food brands. Julie Kendrick

Cadwallader C. Washburn may not be a

household name, but he put General Mills on the
map. In other words, without him, there might
not be a Betty Crocker, a Wheaties champion
or even a Lucky Charms leprechaun.

In 1880, he entered his Washburn-Crosbys Superlative flour, milled

in Minneapolis, into the Millers International Exhibition. Cadwallader won top honors and renamed his highest-quality flour Gold Medal
Flour, still the top-selling branded flour in the U.S. today.

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Minnesota-Grown
These days, Minnesota is the global headquarters not just of General Mills, but many coveted
food brands and bold new start-ups.
Many different factors have created Minnesota foodways, says Teresa Marrone, author
of Dishing Up Minnesota: 150 Recipes from the
Land of 10,000 Lakes. We grow just about all
the ingredients we need to make delicious food
right here in the state. Our university system
is a leader in many food incubation programs,
which youll appreciate the next time you bite
into a Honeycrisp or SweeTango apple. And weve
been welcoming to immigrants from all over the
world, which has given us a wonderful multicultural identityand terrific food.
The Power Players
Still located in its hometown of Austin, Minnesota, Hormel Foods is one of the oldest and
largest companies in the state. Brands include
Jennie-O, SPAM, SKIPPY peanut butter, Muscle
Milk and Wholly Guacamole. Were proud to
be one of several global Fortune 500 companies
that call Minnesota home, says James P. Snee,

P e t e r B e c k (C a r g i l l ) ; P h ot o g e n I n c ( A n n K i m ) ; G e n e r a l M i l l s (G e n e r a l M i l l s H e a d q ua r t e r s )

from top left:

Cargill consultant on
a rural farm; General
Mills headquarters
in Minneapolis; Ann
Kim of Pizzeria Lola.

Warm
Welcomer
Dav i d P. B e r g

arlson Rezidor Hotel Group CEO David P. Berg oversees more than 1,400 hotels,
ranging from midscale to luxury across seven brands and 115 countries. Carlson
Rezidor Group was launched by the Carlsons, one of Minnesotas best-known
entrepreneurial families. Berg, a native Minnesotan whose eclectic businessleadership background includes restaurants and locally based retailer Best Buy,
works to perpetuate that entrepreneurial spirit among his staff and operators.
Radisson was the first international chain to enter Russia, and we have a leadership
position in Africa and India, says Berg, who sees opportunities for his hotels to expand in the
Americas. But hes particularly excited about Radisson RED, Carlson Rezidors newest brand.
Berg describes RED as a hotel brand for the millennial-minded traveler.
Its also technology-driven, with a mobile application that will allow guests to check
in, order a craft beer or cocktail from the bar and call a taxi, all digitally. The first RED hotel
opened in Brussels in April, and the first U.S. RED hotel will open in downtown Minneapolis,
close to the new U.S. Bank Stadium, by years end.
Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group is in the process of being acquired by China-based HNA
Tourism Group. While HNA would own the Carlson hotel brands, one of the things that was
very important to us, Berg says, was to maintain our presence in Minnesota in order to
retain that Minnesota sensibility of warmth and personal service. g en e r eb eck

Hormel Foods president and chief operating

officer. With more than 20,000 dedicated and
passionate employees delivering some of the
most iconic brands in the world, our small-town,
big-hearted work ethic can be found in everything we do. Our values, beliefs and commitment
to innovation our founder set for the company
125 years ago are still part of our DNA. No

left to Right:
Minnesota-made
charcuterie; Cargill
products.

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The Future of Food Production

In the Northeast neighborhood of Minneapolis,
Kieran Folliard is making an impact on the next
generation of Minnesota food production. Hes
the founder of the FOOD BUILDING, an artisan/
craft food production center whose mission is to
make really good food that puts people first and
build and scale Minnesota food brands. Tenants
are Red Table Meat Co. (dry-cured pork products
from locally sourced heritage breed hogs), The
Lone Grazer Creamery (cheeses from grass-fed
Minnesota cows) and Bakers Field Flour & Bread,
which has brought stone-milling and baking
back to what used to be known as the Mill City.
A Climate of Innovation
With a modern landscape that demands innovation at a rapid pace, Minnesotans are responding with creative food start-ups, including Ann
Kims artisanal pizza joints Pizzeria Lola and
Hello, Pizza; Bizzy Coffee, organic cold-brew
coffee concentrate; and Seven Sundays, highquality muesli sold first at a stall at a Minneapolis farmers market and now available online and
at retailers nationwide.
Theres a seismic shift happening with food
production, Folliard says. If tasting food is the
best way to decide if you like it, then seeing it
made is the best way to understand how you feel
about buying it. Theres a growing demand for
food with a story of sustainability, transparency
and higher quality.

J o s u e E v i l l a ( Dav i d P. B e r g I l l u s t r at i o n ) ; B e n R o l l i n s P h oto g r a p h y LLC ( Dav i d P. B e r g)

Legends & Leaders

surprise, then, that Hormel is set to receive Minnesota Business Partnerships annual Minnesota
Legacy Award.
Land OLakes Inc., owned by farmer/members, is one of the nations largest cooperatives.
Its brands include LAND O LAKES Dairy
Foods, Purina Animal Nutrition and Winfield.
The connection to agriculture is not just part of
the companys heritage, but also its future. Only
2 percent of the population has a direct connection to agriculture, so that means that 2 percent
of the country is feeding the other 98 percent,
says Chris Policinski, Land OLakes president
and CEO. We supply some of the safest and
most sustainable food in the world, and that
story needs to be told more widely.
Cargill is a leader in agricultural and food
purchasing, processing and distribution. If
youre eating an Egg McMuffin from McDonalds,
the egg probably passed
through a Cargill plant.
Buying something off
the grocery shelf? It
was most likely salted,
sweetened or otherwise
preserved with a Cargill
ingredient.