Conagra Brands announced Monday that President and CEO Sean Connolly will step down from his position next month and be succeeded by the president and COO of J.M. Smucker.
John Brase will take over as president and CEO of Conagra effective June 1. Before joining Smucker, Brase spent more than 30 years at Procter & Gamble. Richard Lenny, the independent chair of Conagra’s board, said that the move reflected a “thoughtful approach to succession planning” and that “now is the right time for this leadership transition."
"John's track record of driving top- and bottom-line performance, building brands across multiple consumer-packaged goods categories, leveraging advantaged business systems and leading inclusive, results-driven cultures is exceptional, and we are confident Conagra will thrive under his leadership," Lenny said in the announcement.
"It's an honor to join Conagra and lead this portfolio of iconic brands," added Brase.
Connolly served as the chief executive of the owner of the Healthy Choice, Birds Eye and Slim Jim brands for 11 years.
"I'm proud of what we've accomplished throughout my tenure at Conagra," Connolly said. "Our efforts to invest in brand building and innovation, grow scale in frozen and snacks, sharpen execution and divest non-core assets have created a pure-play, branded platform with proven strength in key domains.”
