James Bell was born on August 16, 1879, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of James Stroud Bell, an executive in the milling industry, and Sallie Montgomery Ford. The family had been active in the flour-milling business in southeastern Pennsylvania since the eighteenth century.
The Bells moved to Minneapolis, where James Ford attended the public schools. He later attended the Lawrenceville School and the University of Minnesota. He was graduated with a B. S. in chemistry in 1901.
Bell went to work for the Washburn Crosby Company, a merchant-milling firm in Minneapolis headed by his father, and gained familiarity with all aspects of milling. He became a director of the company in 1909, and a vice-president upon the death of his father in 1915. Bell directed the Milling Division of the United States Food Administration during World War I. He accompanied Herbert Hoover on the European Food Mission following the Armistice, and at Hoover's instigation became treasurer and general manager of the Sugar Equalization Board during 1918-1919. In 1925 Bell was elected president of Washburn Crosby.
Bell turned his attention to reorganizing the milling industry. After winning over skeptics on his own board, Bell persuaded the Red Star Milling Company of Wichita, the Kell group of mills in Texas and Oklahoma, and the Sperry Flour Company of California to merge with Washburn Crosby. The outcome of his efforts was the formation of General Mills Company in 1928. In 1929 the Larrowe Milling Company of Michigan, a major formula-feed business, and other smaller firms joined General Mills. By the late 1930's the company was the largest flour-milling enterprise in the world, but it remained decentralized until Bell introduced consolidation and tighter central control in 1937.
The formation of General Mills was part of a general pattern of consolidation in American industry in the late 1920's. But specific developments in the flour-milling business also encouraged consolidation. Milling was highly competitive, with low profit margins on each barrel of flour sold. Because of the steady decline in per capita flour consumption, many mills encountered financial difficulties in the 1920's. With 75 percent of its flour mills centered in the upper Midwest, in areas that made up only a quarter of the national market, Washburn Crosby was particularly vulnerable. Furthermore, bakers shifted their preference from spring wheat, grown in the upper Midwest, to winter wheat, grown farther south.
Under Bell's leadership, first as president and after 1934 as chairman of the board, General Mills met these problems. Between 1928 and 1947 it never failed to make a profit or pay dividends on common stock, of which Bell was the largest holder. In 1947, the last year of Bell's administration, General Mills netted a record $9. 2 million on $371 million in sales. In this period, the company grew to be twice as large as its nearest competitor, Pillsbury Flour Mills. Some of this success came from Bell's enlargement of his regional firm, Washburn Crosby, into a national one, General Mills. Transport costs were so high that a large market could be reached only by a firm with mills in all parts of the country. Furthermore, only a nationwide company could take advantage of the advertising possibilities offered by the development of radio and television networks.
Advertising was crucial to success in the business because there was little difference in quality between one company's flour and another's. Bell encouraged an aggressive advertising campaign for General Mills. The imaginary Betty Crocker encouraged the American homemaker to use General Mills products. Sports enthusiasts heard the General Mills breakfast cereal Wheaties promoted as "The Breakfast of Champions" during the first televised professional baseball game, in 1939. Bell also pushed for diversification. New packaged foods, most notably Bisquick, were major successes. In the late 1930's and early 1940's, non-flour-related items, including vitamins, chemical products, and home appliances, were produced. This diversification was aided by the emphasis Bell placed on research.
Even after his retirement, Bell remained head of the company's committee on financial and technological progress. He was also active in civic affairs in Minneapolis. Among his pastimes was the collection of books on the early history of commerce and exploration, which formed the basis of the James Ford Bell Library at the University of Minnesota. He died in Minneapolis.
James Bell was a business leader who founded General Mills in 1928 consolidating many regional grain milling concerns. He served as the first president of General Mills from 1928 to 1934 and chairman from 1934 to 1948. By the late 1930's the company was the largest flour-milling enterprise in the world. In 1947, the last year of Bell's administration, General Mills netted a record $9. 2 million on $371 million in sales. In this period, the company grew to be twice as large as its nearest competitor, Pillsbury Flour Mills.
Bell was a Republican. In the early years of the New Deal, General Mills opposed the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, and Bell was among the Republican businessmen who resigned from the Commerce Department's Business Advisory Council in July 1935. Government policies made it impossible for management to guarantee profitable operations, he claimed. Later in the 1930's, however, Bell began to accept government direction of basic industrial activity and emphasized that private industry should concentrate on merchandising and public-relations activities.
On December 10, 1902, James Bell married Louise Heffelfinger of Minneapolis; they had four children.
