Conagra Brands

Conagra Brands is a packaged foods company. We’re ConAgra Foods. We make the food you love. We're passionate about sharing the love of food, the stories of our people and the commitment we bring.

1919: The company was founded.

1922: But soon, to accommodate his growing business, Kinney added a mill in Omaha, and moved the headquarters of the company there.

1936: The company ran at a profit until this year when Kinney retired.

1942: Dickinson opened a flour mill and animal feed mill in Alabama.

1947: Cake mixes, though only a small proportion of the total flour market, accounted for as much as $140 million a year in retail sales.

1951: After researching new uses for its flour, NCM funded the establishment of the Duncan Hines brand of cake mixes as a way to market more flour.

1956: The company sold its Duncan Hines brand to Proctor & Gamble.

1957: NCM built the first major grain processing plant in Puerto Rico through its subsidiary Caribe Company.

1958: NCM built the first major grain processing plant in Puerto Rico through its subsidiary, Caribe Company.

1965: The company also began to expand into the European market by going into partnership with Bioter-Biona, S.A., a Spanish producer of animal feed and animal health products and breeder of pigs, chickens, and trout. Expansion into Europe begins through a joint venture with Bioter-Biona, S.A. of Spain.

1971: Nebraska Consolidated Mills changed its name to ConAgra, a combination of the con for consolidated and Agra, similarly short in English for agriculture.

1973: It chose a new name to reflect its new concerns: ConAgra, meaning "in partnership with the land." ConAgra, Inc. was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

1975: ConAgra's first high-profile chief executive, former Pillsbury executive Charles Harper, was named president with a mandate to turn the ailing company around.

1976: ConAgra’s first high-profile leader, former Pillsbury executive Charles “Mike” Harper, was named president and CEO with a mandate to turn the ailing company around.

1978:United Agri Products, an agricultural chemicals distributor, is acquired.

1981: The company enters the prepared seafood market through purchases of Singleton Seafood and Sea-Alaska Products.

1982: Country Poultry, Inc. is formed and soon becomes the top poultry producer in the country.

1983: Red meats processor Armour Food Company is acquired.

1986: However, Peavey was posting a $16.4 million profit on sales of $1.2 billion, a promising upward trend. Harper increased ConAgra's presence in frozen foods by purchasing the Morton, Patio, and Chun King brands.

1987: The company expanded in red meats with its purchase of E.A. Miller, Inc., a western producer of beef products, and Montfort of Colorado, Inc.

1988: Harper boasted that ConAgra was probably the only food products company to “participate across the entire food chain.” In the grocery store, however, the majority of its packaged food products were found in the frozen foods section, where it held the top market share in the country. The company enlarged its frozen foods market share further with the introduction of Healthy Choice, a low-fat, low-sodium, and low-cholesterol line of frozen dinner entrees. Armour as a whole was still unprofitable, but the Classics line has increased profits since the purchase.

1990: Sensing that even greater diversification was necessary to ensure steady earnings growth, Harper led the purchase of Beatrice Co., which produced top brands such as Hunt’s Tomato Paste and Butterball Turkey and had annual sales of over $4 billion.

1991: The company enlarged its frozen foods market share further with the introduction of Healthy Choice, a low-fat, low-sodium, and low-cholesterol line of frozen dinner entrees.

1992: Harper resigned his post at ConAgra to become chairman and chief executive officer at RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp. Sales surpassed $20 billion for the first time, as the company posted its 12th consecutive year of record earnings.

1993: Healthy Choice posted sales of over $1 billion and was lauded as the “most successful new food brand introduction in two decades” by Advertising Age. Harper resigned from his post at ConAgra to become chairman and CEO at RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp.

1994: Earnings for this year reached $437 million on sales of $23.5 billion.

1995: The company agreed to pay $13.6 million to settle a class-action suit brought by fish distributors and processors who claimed that ConAgra’s Country Skillet Catfish Co. and six other catfish wholesalers conspired to fix prices for nearly a decade.

1996: A pretax restructuring charge of $507.8 million was taken, leading to a reduced net income figure of $211.8 million (on sales of $24.32 billion). The company hoped to eventually realize more than $100 million in annual cost savings from the job cuts and plant closings.

1998: "Foreign Flavor: ConAgra Adapts Products for International Tastes," Omaha (Nebr.) World-Herald, March 30. The margarine and egg substitute business of Nabisco, Inc. are acquired. Revenues were cut from $24.27 billion to $24.19 billion.

1999: International Home Foods acquired revenues of $2.1 billion. The company announces a major restructuring that involves 8,450 job cuts, the closure of 137 facilities, and the divestment of 18 noncore businesses.

2000: With the company continuing its transformation from its agricultural origins to its position as primarily a producer of packaged foods, the decision was made to add "Foods" to the company name, resulting in the introduction of the ConAgra Foods, Inc. name in September. Operating profit was $33 million, compared to $47 million in the fourth quarter.

2001: For all of the year, food business sales grew 7 percent to $21.9 billion, and food business operating profit stayed the same at $1.6 billion.

2002: For the 39 weeks that ended February 24, revenues rose 3 percent to $21.22 billion. ConAgra Foods sold its fresh meat operations under the name Swift & Company to Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst, Inc. and Booth Creek Management.

2003: In November, ConAgra sold its chicken business to Pilgrim's Pride Corporation for about $550 million in cash and stock and the United States and Canadian crop inputs businesses of United Agri Products to Apollo Management, L.P. in a $560 million cash-and-stock deal.

2004: Continuing to unload its commodity holdings, ConAgra sold its minority interest in Swift to Hicks, Muse in September for $194 million. For example, the company introduced Banquet Crock-Pot Classics, frozen meat and vegetable meals designed for slow-cooking in Crock-Pots.

2005: In August, the company sold its minority stake in Pilgrim's Pride for $482 million. In October, Gary Rodkin was brought on board as the new president and CEO of ConAgra Foods, succeeding the retiring Rohde.

2006: ConAgra Foods sold its Chicago-area-based refrigerated meats business (Butterball, Eckrich, Armour) to Smithfield Foods.

2012: On November 27, ConAgra officials announced they were purchasing Ralcorp, pending Ralcorp shareholder approval, for approximately $4.95 billion.

2013: The deal was completed and made ConAgra the largest private-label packaged food business in the United States.

2014: On July 14 ConAgra announced that it had acquired TaiMei Potato Industry Limited, a potato processor in Shangdu, Inner Mongolia.

2015: On October 1, ConAgra announced that it would cut about 1,500 jobs and relocate its headquarters to Chicago as part of a restructuring plan.

2016: The move of headquarters from Omaha to Chicago was completed in late June with the opening of their new HQ at the Merchandise Mart building. They also announced that ConAgra Foods would be renamed Conagra Brands.

2017: The acquisition was completed on October 23.

2018: On June 27, Conagra Brands announced the acquisition of Pinnacle Foods for $8.1 billion.

2020: On December 8, Conagra announced that it was selling the Peter Pan brand to Post Holdings.

Conagra has the most impactful, energized and inclusive culture in food. Our diverse team embraces debate to challenge marketplace/business conventions. We are respected for our great brands, great food, great margins and consistent results.

Conagra has the most impactful, energized and inclusive culture in food. Our diverse team embraces debate to challenge marketplace/business conventions. We are respected for our great brands, great food, great margins and consistent results.