Shawn O'Grady led General Mills’ North America Foodservice segment, which focuses on serving the needs of convenience store operators and foodservice providers, including schools, universities and hospitals, primarily in the U.S. and Canada. Prior to that he led the function responsible for all U.S. Retail sales of General Mills consumer foods products.
In that role, his organization focused on leading profitable growth by creating differentiated customer solutions for both grocery and channel customers. His team’s responsibilities included in-store execution, trade funding strategy and the development and deployment of industry-leading sales capabilities. He was named to that position in May 2010. O’Grady joined General Mills in the marketing organization in July 1990.
O'Grady held positions across the Snacks, Meals and Big G cereal divisions. Most noteworthy was his work on Wheaties, which he led during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He was promoted to vice president in 1998, and concurrent with the General Mills acquisition of The Pillsbury Company in 2001, took the helm of the Refrigerated Baked Goods business.
Late in 2004, O’Grady joined General Mills’ Consumer Foods Sales division, progressing to his most recent role as president of the Sales division with responsibility for all grocery customers.
Prior to joining General Mills, he worked two years as a chemical engineer for Air Products and Chemicals in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Notre Dame and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Shawn P. O'Grady, FANO Board Chair
Retired Group President, General Mills