As supply chain delays and rising costs made individual ingredients harder to procure, food companies had to become very flexible.

Before the pandemic, the packaged food industry was a stable environment, with a consistent level of growth, Mr. Nudi said. That made having a secure, steady supply of ingredients easier.

Now General Mills is lining up multiple suppliers for each ingredient and keeping more ingredients on hand.

“Just-in-time deliveries don’t work anymore,” Mr. Nudi said. “We’re adding to inventory, holding more dry ingredients and fats and oils, even though that’s tough too right now. We need tanks to store those liquids, and those just aren’t readily available.”