ConAgra Food, an American packaged foods company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska which sells products under various brand names that are available in supermarkets, as well as restaurants and food service establishments, has announced that Gary M Rodkin, CEO, will retire at the end of the company’s financial year, May 2015. The Board of Directors has established a search committee, led by independent director Richard Lenny, to identify Rodkin’s successor. Lenny is the former Chairman and CEO of The Hershey and has served on the ConAgra Foods board since 2009.
“The Board is extremely appreciative of Gary’s leadership, vision, and accomplishments over his almost nine years as CEO of ConAgra Foods. Under his stewardship, ConAgra Foods has transformed from a holding company into one unified company, with a well-balanced portfolio of consumer, commercial, and private brand businesses, and strong operating capabilities,” said Steven Goldstone, Chairman of ConAgra Foods.
Rodkin, joined ConAgra Foods in October 2005. Prior to joining ConAgra Foods, he was Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo Beverages and Foods North America, where he led a $10 billion organization that included leading brands such as Pepsi, Gatorade, Quaker Foods, and Tropicana. He joined PepsiCo in 1998 after it acquired Tropicana, where he had served as President since 1995. From 1979 to 1995, he held marketing and general management positions of increasing responsibility at General Mills, with his last three years at the company as President of the Yoplait yogurt division.
Rodkin graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics from Rutgers College and an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was recently named a Fellow of Executive Education.