MINNEAPOLIS — General Mills Inc. had a positive second-quarter story for its North America Retail business, where 7 of the top 10 US categories tallied sequential sales gains. But Jeffrey Harmening, chairman and chief executive officer of the Minneapolis-based company, spotlighted one category that didn’t: refrigerated dough, led by the Pillsbury brand.

In comments to analysts, Harmening said refrigerated dough took a “step back” from the first to second quarter of fiscal 2025, with a “disappointing start to the key baking season.” But heading into the second half, General Mills aims to “step up our plans and reinvest to improve our trends on refrigerated dough,” Harmening noted.

General Mills already had invested in a new campaign for Pillsbury starring the Doughboy as well as in taste enhancements, such as flakier biscuits. Yet Harmening said efforts thus far had fallen short — for a different reason.

“Our plan for refrigerated dough this year included product renovation news, stronger marketing behind the Pillsbury Doughboy and targeted investments in value,” he said. “As we moved through the second quarter, it became clear that our product news and media support were not breaking through because we didn’t have the right value for consumers at the shelf.”

The four-pronged plan for Pillsbury includes improving value, expanding product news, accelerating momentum in the cookie segment and amplifying brand building.

“We’ve taken a number of actions recently to reverse the trends on refrigerated dough,” Harmening said. “We’ve already brought more value to consumers in December by adding investment to narrow price gaps across a broader range of items. We’re stepping up our taste renovation news in the second half across 30% of our portfolio, with new ‘more cinnamon’ news on Pillsbury cinnamon rolls and continued support behind our ‘more flaky layers’ news on biscuits.”

Also on the way are new cookie varieties, such as Monster Cookie and double chocolate flavors and Grinch holiday shapes. Harmening said the launches are expected to “accelerate the strong growth we’ve been delivering since we unlocked new capacity earlier this year.”

In the third quarter, General Mills plans on “significantly increasing our media support” for Pillsbury to give the brand greater visibility during the rest of the key holiday baking season, Harmening said.

“The return of the Doughboy in our new campaign is working, and we expect media investment to be up more than 40% on our canned dough line in Q3,” he said.

In the United States for the second quarter, ended Nov. 24, General Mills’ North America Retail operating unit saw segment sales rise 4% in US Morning Foods and 1% in US Snacks but decline 1% in US Meals & Baking Solutions.