Departments

As CEO, Rodkin is responsible for a broad portfolio of trusted, leading consumer brands, including Healthy Choice®, Chef Boyardee®, Hunt's®, Marie Callender's®, Orville Redenbacher's®, Hebrew National®, PAM®, Egg Beaters® and Banquet®, among others. ConAgra Foods brands are found in 96 percent of U.S. households and 24 of the company's brands are ranked first or second in their category. The company also has a very significant presence in commercial food products and ingredients. In fact, its Lamb Weston® unit is the nation's largest potato company.

As part of Rodkin's No. 1 priority for ConAgra Foods — sustainable, profitable growth — he has led significant culture change. His work in driving simplicity — one of the company's core operating principles — was featured in the December 2007 "Harvard Business Review."

Prior to joining ConAgra Foods, Rodkin was chairman and chief executive officer 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. Rodkin joined PepsiCo in 1998 after it acquired Tropicana, where he had served as president since 1995. From 1979 to 1995, Rodkin held marketing and general management positions of increasing responsibility at General Mills, with his last three years at the company as president, Yoplait-Colombo.

Rodkin earned his bachelor's degree in economics from Rutgers College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He also serves as a director on the boards of Avon Products, Inc., Grocery Manufacturers Association and Boys Town.

Rob Sharpe was named executive vice president, chief administrative officer and president, Commercial Foods, in 2009. He was previously named executive vice president, External Affairs, and president, Commercial Foods, in 2008. Rob joined ConAgra Foods as executive vice president, Legal and External Affairs, in 2005. In his current role, he is responsible for overseeing human resources, government affairs and corporate communication as well as the company’s Commercial Foods business, which accounts for approximately 37 percent of ConAgra Foods’ revenue and includes the Lamb Weston, ConAgra Mills, and J.M. Swank businesses.

Rob's background includes roles as senior vice president, public affairs; secretary and general counsel for PepsiCo; and senior vice president and general counsel at RJR Nabisco.

Rob serves on the board of Ameriprise Financial. He has bachelor's degrees from DePauw University and Purdue University and a law degree from Wake Forest University.

Al Bolles joined ConAgra Foods in 2006 as executive vice president, Research, Quality & Innovation. In this role, he leads the company's research, quality and innovation functions and guides the development of new products based on consumer insights and technological best practices.

Al focuses on delivering fewer, bigger and better new products that will add sales to the top line and build consumer loyalty to ConAgra Foods brands. He continues to concentrate on delivering big-bet innovation to the market with flawless execution. In 2007, he brought to market a highly successful product extension of the Healthy Choice® brand — Café Steamers™.

Prior to joining ConAgra Foods, Al led worldwide research and development for PepsiCo Beverages and Foods. He has a Ph.D. and master's degree in food science and a bachelor's degree in microbiology, all from Michigan State University. He holds several patents and has won numerous awards for his contributions to the world of food science.

Joan Chow joined ConAgra Foods as executive vice president and chief marketing officer in 2007. Joan was named a Brandweek Marketer of the Year for 2009. In this role, she is responsible for leading ConAgra Foods' global marketing team, including advertising, media, digital and social marketing; integrated marketing communications; strategic marketing; consumer insights; and customer marketing.

Joan takes an in-depth focus on marketing for ConAgra Foods brands across the portfolio. Her goals are to build stronger advertising creative, effective media plans, sustainable customer linkage and a strong return on marketing objectives. In 2008, Joan's team launched ConAgra Foods' health and wellness platform — StartMakingChoices.com — an online tool for consumers to manage and track their health to live a balanced life.

Prior to joining ConAgra Foods, Joan was senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Sears, Roebuck and Co. Joan began her career in 1986 at Johnson & Johnson. She earned her M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and her bachelor's degree in linguistics from Cornell University.

John Gehring was named executive vice president and chief financial officer of ConAgra Foods in 2009. As CFO, John oversees the company's finances in entirety. John was senior vice president and controller at ConAgra Foods from 2004 to 2009, with responsibility for accounting, reporting, planning and analysis, financial systems management and financial shared services operations. He also had financial oversight for the company's Commercial Foods business.

Prior to his controller role, John was senior vice president and interim senior financial officer for ConAgra Foods Retail Products and senior vice president, Internal Audit. Before joining ConAgra Foods, John was a partner with Ernst & Young, serving as the Ohio Valley area business risk services leader. He also held auditing positions with PepsiCo and KPMG Peat Marwick. John earned his bachelor's degree in business administration from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

André Hawaux was named president of ConAgra Foods' Consumer Foods business in 2009. A $7.5 billion segment in annual sales, Consumer Foods manufactures and markets leading branded products to retail and foodservice customers with such major brands as Banquet®, Chef Boyardee®, Egg Beaters®, Healthy Choice®, Hebrew National®, Hunt's®, Marie Callender's®, Orville Redenbacher's®, PAM®, Peter Pan®, Reddi-wip® and many others.

André joined ConAgra Foods as executive vice president and chief financial officer in 2006, leading the company's Finance and Information System and Services organizations.

Prior to ConAgra Foods, André served as general manager of a large U.S. division of PepsiAmericas. He also previously served as chief financial officer for Pepsi-Cola North America and Pepsi International's China business unit. A certified public accountant, André holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from Pace University and an M.B.A. from Southern New Hampshire University.

Doug Knudsen was named president of ConAgra Foods Sales in 2005, providing sales leadership to the entire company, after serving as president of Retail Sales since 2001. In his role, Doug oversees the sale of many consumer-favorite brands, including Healthy Choice®, Orville Redenbacher's®, Chef Boyardee® and Banquet®.

Doug and his sales team are charged with delivering on the promise of ConAgra Foods' brands by exceeding the expectations of the company's retail and foodservice customers, as well as those of the consumers who purchase ConAgra Foods products.

Prior to becoming president of Retail Sales, Doug was president of Grocery Sales for the ConAgra Grocery Products Company, which formerly did business under the Hunt-Wesson name. He began his career with Hunt-Wesson as a sales representative, eventually assuming several senior positions, including vice president and national sales manager, and senior vice president of Sales. Doug serves on the sales vanguard committee of the Grocery Manufacturers Association and is an advisory board member of the Computer Science Corporation. He has a bachelor's degree from Illinois State University.

Greg Smith, executive vice president, Supply Chain, joined ConAgra Foods in 2001. Greg's focus for the Supply Chain team examines three main areas: improving the quality of ConAgra Foods products, reducing costs and achieving exemplary, consistent service levels. His ultimate goal is to build a world-class supply chain infrastructure.

Prior to his current role, he held the positions of president and executive vice president of Operations, and vice president, Manufacturing, all for the ConAgra Foods Consumer Foods Grocery operating group. He has worked with groups across ConAgra Foods to reach expedient solutions to support sustainable, profitable growth. Greg has extensive experience in operations and supply chain management, including his most recent position as senior vice president, Supply Chain.

Before joining ConAgra Foods, Smith was vice president, supply chain, for United Signature Foods and held senior manufacturing and operations positions with VDK Frozen Foods. He also worked at The Quaker Oats Company for 11 years in positions of increasing responsibility in manufacturing, supply chain and marketing. Greg earned his bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Tennessee.

Gerrit Schutté joined ConAgra Foods in 1998. He has successfully led ConAgra’s restructuring, consolidation and modernization of IT resources including the design and construction of state-of-the-art data center capabilities, outsourcing of legacy application systems and proliferation of PMO disciplines and standards across the enterprise. He has deployed effective technical and leadership development capabilities throughout all areas of the IT organization. His organizations have successfully implemented a single SAP instance across multiple business platforms and functions including Finance, Supply Chain, Sales and R&D. In 2009, ConAgra became the first company in the Americas to be awarded certification from SAP as an Advanced Customer Center of Expertise.

Prior to joining ConAgra, Gerrit served as SVP - IS Infrastructure for the Mutual of Omaha Companies, and VP and CIO for the Fidelity Mutual Life Insurance Company.

A native of New York City, he holds a BA degree from Fordham University and an MA from Central Michigan University.

Colleen Batcheler was named executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary for ConAgra Foods in 2009. In this role, Colleen oversees all legal activity for the company. Colleen joined ConAgra Foods in June 2006 as vice president and chief securities counsel, and, in September 2006, added corporate secretary responsibilities. She was then promoted to senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary in 2008.

Prior to ConAgra Foods, Colleen was vice president and corporate secretary at Albertson's, Inc., associate counsel with The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and an associate with the law firm of Jones Day. Her practice has focused on securities regulation, corporate governance issues, executive compensation matters, mergers and acquisitions and other general corporate matters. She earned a B.A., magna cum laude, in political science from the State University of New York College at Fredonia and her J.D. from Case Western Reserve University, where she graduated Order of the Coif and served as executive notes editor of the "Law Review."