Red Spoon Diaries: Inside the Betty Crocker Kitchens

Most of us recognize the red spoon that brands Betty Crocker. Having grown up in Minneapolis, the location of General Mills parent company to Betty Crocker I had even toured the kitchens.

You can guess the reaction from my extended family, still living in Minneapolis, when our office was asked to work with the architectural firm designing the new General Mills headquarters on the replacements for those same kitchens. After the euphoria of that pleasant recognition from my family, we faced some unusual challenges, and both the process and the results might provide you with some new design ideas and certainly some new applications for familiar design concepts.

Development issues
The management at General Mills was very clear on its philosophy for the new company campus, which was to include approximately 20 kitchens to replace the six old kitchens. Having just purchased Pillsbury, a significant rival that is also home-based in Minneapolis, the company philosophy was shifting from "behind closed doors" private spaces to "focal point" heart and hearth of the company.

In order to ensure success with the more than 30 home economists in the different working groups, I traveled to Minneapolis for an intense two days, during which we surveyed and discussed priorities and how the spaces were to be used. These interviews were based on a much-revised version of our "home consultation survey," which was sent in advance. The interviews were taped so we could replay the information as we worked with the space.

You know the old adage "Too Many Cooks Spoil the Broth?" Imagine 30 people who had worked in a fair amount of secrecy and competition gathering to talk about plans for new work spaces where they would work together with no walls or doors. Luckily, these were professionals who were excited about the opportunity. While there was some level of anxiety, they offered excellent and specific input. I finished each day taking dimensions and photos of existing storage, workspace, carts and equipment.

The space planned for the kitchens included an atrium 30' high, with floor-to-ceiling windows on two sides and a glass-walled walkway on the third wall where employees could wander by to look in on the Betty Crocker world. In addition, the space was to include a commissary, conference room, library, a media kitchen, offices for the home economists and even a green room for guests appearing in Betty Crocker tapings.

In keeping with the company philosophy of an open space, no tall elements would separate the kitchens. They wanted the space to look warm and inviting like your kitchen at home, not a laboratory. Because the kitchens would be viewed from the walkway above, the challenge was to create beautiful kitchens that mirrored or at least complemented each other, yet functioned to the specific needs of five very different working groups.

While there is no typical day in the life of a Betty Crocker home economist, one might include developing recipes from the General Mills product line. Often the day begins with a trip to the commissary to pick up staple pantry items, followed by experimenting and repeating recipes to perfection, then showing the creation to the rest of the group and finishing off with a taste test. Because of this routine, oversized rolling carts and a place to store the carts needed to be an essential part of every kitchen design. The rolling carts would also be used to transport items to a conference room or media room where they might be photographed or videoed.

For the end-of-the-day testing, each kitchen needed a dining counter with at least four stools.
The five main groups to be accommodated included meals and snacks, baking, food trends and innovations, food stylists, and a last group that included editors and publication and licensing specials. Each group had very different needs, but one constant surfaced among the groups quantity quantity in the number of appliances, countertop surfaces and storage.