Josh Yates is a seasoned commercial leader with over 20 years of experience leading large brands and successful sales teams across a variety of key grocery retailers.
As Chief Customer Officer for General Mills’ U.S. Retail business, Yates oversees all customer activities U and leads the nearly 1,000 sales professionals charged with growing the $11B U.S. Retail business.
Previously, Yates served as Vice President and Business Unit Director for the Cheerios and Adult Cereals Business Unit where he was responsible for driving growth on many of the company’s biggest cereal brands including Cheerios, Chex, Nature Valley and Total.
Earlier, Yates held roles as Vice President of Sales and Trade Director for the Morning Foods operating unit; Region Sales Director for our Walmart business; and also held a variety of sales roles including Zone operations where he called on key grocery customers, in addition to capabilities roles in Category Management, Trade and Pricing Analytics.
Yates holds a degree in Economics from Vanderbilt University. He is currently serving as the Executive Sponsor of Women in Sales, and outside of General Mills, Yates is active in the community, previously serving as Board President of the JDRF of Arkansas, and as a board member of the Northwest Arkansas Women’s Shelter. In his free time, Yates enjoys running, cooking, and spending time with his family: wife Mesha and children Michaela (15), Joey (10), and Morgan (5).
