Citizendia

ConAgra Foods, Inc.
TypePublic (NYSE: CAG)
Founded1919
HeadquartersOmaha, Nebraska
Key peopleGary Rodkin
President & CEO
IndustryFood processing
ProductsSee products section
Revenue▲$12. A public company usually refers to a company that is permitted to offer its registered securities ( Stock, bonds, etc The New York Stock Exchange ( NYSE) is a Stock exchange based in New York City. Year 1919 ( MCMXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Gary Rodkin is the current CEO and President of ConAgra Foods, one of the largest Food processing companies in North America For other uses of this term see Industry (disambiguation An industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent industrious" Food processing is the set of methods and techniques used to transform raw Ingredients into Food or to transform food into other forms for consumption by In Marketing, a product is anything that can be offered to a Market that might satisfy a want or need In business revenue or revenues is Income that a company receives from its normal business activities usually from the sale of goods and services 03 billion USD (2007)
Employees24,500 (2007)
Websitewww.conagra.com

ConAgra Foods, Inc. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. A website (alternatively web site or Web site, a back-construction from the Proper noun World Wide Web) is a collection of Web pages (NYSE: CAG) is one of North America's largest packaged foods companies. The New York Stock Exchange ( NYSE) is a Stock exchange based in New York City. ConAgra's products are available in supermarkets, as well as restaurants and food service establishments. Customer divider barjpg|thumb|In supermarkets sellers periodically change prices for classes of goods in response to market conditions rather than negotiating the price of each good A restaurant is a retail establishment that serves prepared Food to Customers. The foodservice (or food service) industry (US English catering industry in British English encompasses those places institutions and companies responsible Its headquarters are located in Omaha, Nebraska. Nebraska ( is a state located on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States and ConAgra also formerly had locations in Irvine, California and Downers Grove, Illinois (which were both headquarters of the former company, Beatrice Foods). Irvine ( is an incorporated city in Orange County California, United States Downers Grove is a Suburb located west of Chicago in DuPage County, Illinois. The Beatrice Foods Company was a major American food processing company and household name

Contents

History

ConAgra was founded in 1919 by Frank Little and Alva Kinney, who brought together four grain mills as Nebraska Consolidated Mills. Frank Little is the name of a number of people including Sir Frank Little (priest (1925-2008 Australian Roman Catholic archbishop Frank ConAgra Foods Inc ( is one of North America 's largest packaged foods companies Initially headquartered in Grand Island, Nebraska, it moved to Omaha in 1922. Grand Island is a city in and the County seat of Hall County, Nebraska, United States. The company ran at a profit until 1936, when Kinney retired. In 1940, the company began producing flour at its own mill, and in 1942 ventured into the livestock feed business. Flour is a powder made of Cereal grains It is the key ingredient of Bread, which is a staple food in many countries and therefore the availability That year president R. S. Dickinson opened the company's first out-of-state facility in Alabama with a flour mill and animal feed plant. Alabama (formally the State of Alabama;) is a State located in the southern region of the United States of America.

After researching new uses for their flour, Nebraska Consolidated Mills funded the establishment of Duncan Hines in 1951 as a way to market more flour by selling cake mixes. Duncan Hines ( March 26, 1880 &ndash March 15, 1959) was a US This venture was very successful, leading the company to its current place as the third largest flour miller in the U. S. However, this did not lead Consolidated to consider other food ventures, and instead they sold their assets in Duncan Hines to Procter & Gamble in 1956. Procter & Gamble Co ( P&G,) is a Fortune 500, American global corporation based in Cincinnati Ohio, that manufactures a wide As American households purchased more and more prepared and instant foods in the 1950s and 1960s, Consolidated chose not to expand into the businesses that used their flour, instead turning in the opposite direction and focusing more on raw foods like poultry and expanding its livestock feed business.

In 1971, Consolidated Mills changed its name to ConAgra, a combination of con for consolidated and agra meaning from the earth in Latin. The 1970s brought the company to the brink of ruin as it lost money expanding into the fertilizer, catfish, and pet product industries and as commodity speculation wiped out ConAgra's margins on raw foods. In 1974, C. Michael Harper ("Mike" Harper), an experienced food industry executive, took over the firm and brought it back from the brink of bankruptcy. C Michael Harper (1927 -) is a United States Businessman who led ConAgra Foods from 1975 to 1993 growing the company by many acquisitions. Nonetheless, ConAgra's business model left it at the mercy of volatile commodity prices. In response, the company set off on a two-decade-long buying spree, purchasing over one hundred prepared food brands, starting with its 1980 purchase of Banquet Foods. Banquet Foods is a company that sells food products - primarily frozen Chicken - and still exists as the brand name on many prepared It moved heavily into the frozen food business and the packaged meat industry, and then picked up a selection of other brands from firms like RJR Nabisco and Beatrice Foods among others, as the leveraged buyouts of the 1980s resulted in the divestiture or breakup of many major American consumer product firms. RJR Nabisco Inc, was an American conglomerate formed in 1985 by the merger of Nabisco Brands and R The Beatrice Foods Company was a major American food processing company and household name A leveraged buyout (or LBO, or highly-leveraged transaction (HLT or "bootstrap" transaction occurs when a Financial sponsor acquires a controlling interest In 1993 alone it purchased $500 million in smaller firms, and in 1998 it purchased another $480 million in brands from Nabisco. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been Nabisco (originally known as Na tional Bis cuit Co mpany is a brand of Cookies and Snacks including brands such as Chips Ahoy!

Governance

The board of directors are: Mogens Bay, Stephen Butler, John Chain, Steven Goldstone, Alice Hayes, W. John T Chain Jr (born 1934 is a retired US Air Force General. Steven F Goldstone (born 1946 has managed Silver Spring Group a private investment firm since 2000 G. Jurgensen, Ruth Ann Marshall, Mark Rauenhorst, Carl Reichardt, Gary Rodkin, Ronald Roskens, Andrew Schinler and Kenneth Stinson. Gary Rodkin is the current CEO and President of ConAgra Foods, one of the largest Food processing companies in North America [1]

Products

Main article: List of ConAgra brands

ConAgra produces a wide array of food products, including cooking oil, frozen dinners, hot cocoa, hot dogs, peanut butter and many others. This article is a list of brands under the North American packaged foods company ConAgra Foods, Inc A TV dinner (also called frozen dinner, microwave meal or ready meal) is a prepackaged frozen or chilled Meal which usually comes in an Hot chocolate (also known as hot cocoa, drinking chocolate or just cocoa) is a heated Beverage that typically consists of A hot dog is a type of fully-cooked cured and/or smoked moist Sausage of soft even texture and flavor Peanut butter is a food paste made primarily from ground roasted Peanuts with or without added oil Some of ConAgra's major brands include Hunt's, Swiss Miss and Knott's Berry Farm. Hunt's is the name of a brand of preserved Tomato products owned by ConAgra Foods Inc Swiss Miss is a brand name for Cocoa powder and Pudding products sold by American food company ConAgra Foods Inc Knott's Berry Farm is a brand name of two separate entities in the United States: a Theme park in Buena Park California, and a manufacturer of food

Criticism

Environmental issues

ConAgra has been criticized for its lack of response to global warming. A 2006 report by CERES, a non-profit organization that works to address global climate change and other sustainability issues, titled "Corporate Governance and Climate Change: Making the Connection," measures how 100 leading global companies are responding to global warming. Companies in the report were evaluated on a 0 to 100 scale. ConAgra scored a total of 4 points, the lowest of any of the food companies rated. [2]

In 2003-2004, ConAgra participated in a Minnesota Pollution Control Agency voluntary investigation and clean-up program. Through the program, the company cleaned up a property previously used for lithium ore processing and constructed a new 80,000-square-foot (7,000 m²) office/warehouse building. [3]

Labor issues

In May 2003, ConAgra and its subsidiary Gilroy Foods agreed to pay $1. 5 million to settle charges of hiring discrimination brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC is a federal agency charged with ending employment discrimination The charges involved a July 1999 Teamsters strike at a plant in King City, CA, then owned by Basic Vegetable Products LP but later purchased by ConAgra. TemplateInfobox Union for usage-->The International Brotherhood of Teamsters ( IBT) formerly known by the In August 2001, the company successfully negotiated with the union to end the two-year strike with a new contract that would recall workers based on seniority. However, the recall process excluded workers who were on leave at the time of the purchase including those out due to work injury or pregnancy. Others were denied jobs due to a history of previous injury or illness, despite their having no restrictions on returning to work. According to the EEOC, most of the 39 workers who were excluded from the recall process had been working at the plant for 10 to 30 years and were primarily Hispanic and female. Hispanic (hispano hispánico hispânico Hispānus adjective from ''Hispānia'', the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula) is a term that historically [4]

The company's Greeley Colorado plant had been cited almost 10 times from 1999 to 2002 for violating worker safety. The State of Colorado ( or chiefly by nonresidents) is a state located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States of America. [5]

Health issues

In 2001, the U.S. Department of Agriculture halted operations at two ConAgra plants because of health violations. The company was threatened with shutdowns at least a half dozen more times. The ConAgra facility in Longmont, Colorado, had the highest rate of salmonella among all the turkey processors tested by the Department during 2001. Longmont is a Home Rule Municipality in Boulder and Weld counties in the U Salmonella is a Genus of rod-shaped Gram-negative enterobacteria that causes Typhoid fever, Paratyphoid fever Nearly half of the turkeys processed at ConAgra’s Longmont, Colorado, facility were contaminated with harmful Salmonella bacteria, compared with a rate of 13 percent for the industry at large. [6]

Ethical issues

In 1997 ConAgra pled guilty to federal criminal charges that its Peavey Grain unit illegally sprayed water on stored grain to increase its weight and value and also bribed Federal inspectors. The company agreed to pay $8. 3 million to resolve the charges, which included a $4. 4 million criminal fine, $3. 45 million as compensation for illegal profits and $450,000 to reimburse the U.S. Department of Agriculture for storage and investigation expenses. ConAgra had also paid $2 million to settle a related civil case filed by a group of Indiana farmers. [7]

Multinational Monitor, a corporate watchdog organization, named ConAgra one of the 'Top 100 Corporate Criminals of the 1990s'. The Multinational Monitor is a bimonthly magazine founded by Ralph Nader in 1980 [8]

Genetically-modified food

In 2002, ConAgra, together with other major food and beverage companies including PepsiCo, General Mills, Kelloggs, Sara Lee, and H.J. Heinz Co., spent heavily to defeat Oregon's measure 27, which would have required food companies to label products that contain genetically modified ingredients. PepsiCo Incorporated (Short for Pepsi Company ( is a large conglomerate with interests in manufacturing marketing and selling a wide variety of carbonated and non- carbonated General Mills ( is a Fortune 500 Corporation, mainly concerned with Food products which is headquartered in Golden Valley, Minnesota Kellogg Company (often referred to as simply Kellogg or Kellogg's, or even more formally Kellogg's of Battle Creek) is an American multinational Oregon ( is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. [9] According to the Oregon Secretary of State, ConAgra contributed $71,000 to the campaign to defeat the ballot initiative. [10]

Product incidents

Jar of Peter Pan peanut butter with "2111" product code, recalled for potential salmonella contamination.
Jar of Peter Pan peanut butter with "2111" product code, recalled for potential salmonella contamination. Peter Pan is a brand of Peanut butter produced by ConAgra Foods and named after the J Peanut butter is a food paste made primarily from ground roasted Peanuts with or without added oil Salmonella is a Genus of rod-shaped Gram-negative enterobacteria that causes Typhoid fever, Paratyphoid fever

ConAgra recalled 19 million pounds of ground beef in July of 2002 with E. coli bacterial contamination. Ground beef, beef mince or hamburger meat (in North America) or mince or mince(d meat (in the rest of the English speaking See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. Escherichia coli O157H7 is an Enterohemorrhagic strain of the bacterium Escherichia coli and a cause of Foodborne illness It was the third-largest recall up to that time. That meat was linked to the illnesses of 19 people in six Western and Midwestern states. [11]

In February of 2007, ConAgra recalled jars of Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter with the product code "2111" on the lid, because they were linked to a salmonella outbreak. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Peter Pan is a brand of Peanut butter produced by ConAgra Foods and named after the J Wal-Mart Stores Inc, like most large Retail and Grocery chains offers Store brands, commonly referred to as house brands or generic Peanut butter is a food paste made primarily from ground roasted Peanuts with or without added oil Salmonella is a Genus of rod-shaped Gram-negative enterobacteria that causes Typhoid fever, Paratyphoid fever Ultimately, the Centers for Disease Conrol documented more than 628 individuals who were stricken with salmonella poisoning in 47 states that could be traced back to Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter. Of those, 20 percent were hospitalized, according to the CDC, which reported no deaths associated with the outbreak. [12] Since Peter Pan (but not Great Value) is only made at one plant, the recall turned out to include all Peter Pan jars sold in the U. S. between May 2006 and February 2007. [13] As of August, 2007, 39 lawsuits had been filed against ConAgra, seeking a total of more than $5 million in damages for doctor bills, hospital stays, and lost wages stemming from the contaminated food. [14]

On September 4, 2007, the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers recommended reduction of diacetyl in butter-like flavorings, such as those used in popcorn, due to cases of the potentially fatal disease bronchiolitis obliterans or "Popcorn Workers's Lung" appearing among plant workers exposed to diacetyl fumes, as well as in one case that involved a popcorn consumer. Events 476 - Romulus Augustus, last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, is deposed when Odoacer proclaims himself Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Bronchiolitis obliterans, or Constrictive bronchiolitis, one form of which is called Popcorn Workers' Lung or popcorn lung, is a rare and life-threatening The next day ConAgra Foods announced that it would soon remove diacetyl from its Jiffy Pop and Orville Redenbacher's popcorn products. Jiffy Pop is Popcorn and Brand of ConAgra Foods. The product combines unpopped popcorn kernels and oil with an aluminum pan and folded aluminum foil lid Orville Redenbacher's Gourmet Popping Corn is a brand of Popcorn founded by Orville Redenbacher in 1971. [15]

On October 11, 2007, ConAgra asked stores to pull the Banquet and generic brand chicken and turkey pot pies due to 152 cases of salmonella poisoning in 31 states being linked to the consumption of ConAgra pot pies, with 20 people hospitalized. Events 1138 - A massive earthquake struck Aleppo, Syria. 1531 - Huldrych Zwingli is killed Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. A banquet is a large public meal or feast complete with main courses and desserts At that time, both the USDA and ConAgra decided in favor of a consumer advisory and against a recall. ConAgra said the issue stemmed from pies not being cooked thoroughly in older microwaves, and that the package's heating instructions would be changed to reflect different microwaves. [16] However, the plant in Marshall, Missouri where the pot pies were manufactured was closed on October 11 as well. Marshall is a city in Saline County, Missouri, United States. Events 1138 - A massive earthquake struck Aleppo, Syria. 1531 - Huldrych Zwingli is killed [17] By October 12, a full recall was announced, affecting all varieties of frozen pot pies sold under the brands Banquet, Albertson’s, Food Lion, Great Value, Hill Country Fare, Kirkwood, Kroger, Meijer, and Western Family. Events 539 BC - The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon. A banquet is a large public meal or feast complete with main courses and desserts Food Lion LLC is an American Grocery store company headquartered in Salisbury North Carolina that operates approximately 1300 supermarkets in 11 Wal-Mart Stores Inc, like most large Retail and Grocery chains offers Store brands, commonly referred to as house brands or generic The Kroger Co ( is an American Retail Supermarket chain and Parent company, founded by Bernard Henry Kroger in 1883 in Cincinnati Meijer ( Dutch, ˈmaɪər is a regional American Hypermarket chain based in Walker Michigan. Western Family Foods was founded as the Pacific Mercantile Cooperative on March 3, 1934 by a group of retailer-owned grocery wholesalers The recalled pot pies included all varieties in 7-oz. single-serving packages bearing the number P-9 or “Est. 1059” printed on the side of the package. [18] By October 14, there were 174 cases of salmonella poisoning in 32 states being linked to the consumption of the contaminated ConAgra pot pies, with 33 people hospitalized. Salmonella is a Genus of rod-shaped Gram-negative enterobacteria that causes Typhoid fever, Paratyphoid fever Public interest groups criticized ConAgra for the delay in issuing the recall, a decision which ConAgra defended by saying the recall was a precaution. At the time of the recall, the USDA had still not identified the source of the salmonella contamination. [19]On October 17, the Colorado Dept. of Public Health reported that "An investigation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state public health departments involved a large cluster of illnesses caused by Salmonella that identified these products" and stated that, "Nationally, at least 211 individuals from 35 states have become ill. "[20]

See also

References

  1. ^ Conagra Foods Inc. This article is a list of brands under the North American packaged foods company ConAgra Foods, Inc This is a list of Foodborne illness outbreaks in the United States. 2007 Annual Report, 2007 
  2. ^ http://www.ceres.org/pub/docs/Ceres_corp_gov_and_climate_change_0306.pdf
  3. ^ http://www.pca.state.mn.us/cleanup/vicstories.html#conagra
  4. ^ IATP | Ag Observatory | Agribusiness Center
  5. ^ Winter, Greg. "Beef Processor's Parent No Stranger to Troubles", New York Times, 2002-07-20. See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1304 - Wars of Scottish Independence: Fall of Stirling Castle - King Edward I of England takes the last rebel stronghold  
  6. ^ Half of Turkeys Fail Salmonella Tests at ConAgra Plant
  7. ^ Conagra Set to Settle Criminal Charges It Increased Weight and Value of Grain - New York Times
  8. ^ JULY/AUGUST 1999
  9. ^ CropChoice.com News
  10. ^ Responsible Shopper Profile: ConAgra Foods
  11. ^ [1]New York Times.
  12. ^ [2] The Daily Report. ConAgra faces 39 suits over bad peanut butter. Retrieved October 17, 2007. ]
  13. ^ News Story - Pipeline
  14. ^ [3] The Daily Report. ConAgra faces 39 suits over bad peanut butter. Retrieved October 17, 2007. ]
  15. ^ USA Today ConAgra to drop popcorn chemical linked to lung ailment
  16. ^ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071011/ap_on_bi_ge/pot_pie_problem;_ylt=AjGMDAyqXgq_2dQHkr1dxYWs0NUE Yahoo. com, ConAgra asks stores to quit selling pies]
  17. ^ CNN. com [4] retrieved 10-13-2007.
  18. ^ St. Cloud Times[http://www.sctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071013/NEWS01/110120058/1009 "ConAgra Foods recalls all pot pies". Retrieved 10-13-2007
  19. ^ Associated Press [5] "Critics: ConAgra Mishandled Recall". Retrieved 10-14-2007
  20. ^ [6] Retrieved 10-17-07

External links

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