General Mills Raising Cereal Prices: General Mills...

General Mills Raising Cereal Prices: General Mills Inc. is raising prices on its cereals and flour mixes by up to 5% to counter sharp increases in packaging costs and grain prices. The company said this week it will raise prices on its 35 ready-to-eat cereal brands by an average of 2.9%, and by 5% on Bisquick, Wondra, Softasilk, Betty Crocker Pancake Mix and WheatHearts. “Even with this 2.9% increase, our cereal prices will still be 3% lower than they were 2 1/2 years ago because we’ve lowered our prices significantly during that period,” said Joe Rutledge, a company vice president. General Mills last increased prices in January, 1993, and has reduced cereal prices by an average of 6% since then, he said.