What Happened?

About the Company

ConAgra Foods, Inc., (NYSE: CAG), is one of North America`s leading packaged food companies with recognized brands such as Marie Callender`s®, Healthy Choice®, Slim Jim®, Hebrew National®, Orville Redenbacher`s®, Peter Pan®, Reddi-wip®, PAM®, Snack Pack®, Banquet®, Chef Boyardee®, Egg Beaters®, Hunt’s® and many other ConAgra Foods brands found in grocery, convenience, mass merchandise and club stores. ConAgra Foods also has a strong business-to-business presence, supplying frozen potato and sweet potato products as well as other vegetable, spice and grain products to a variety of well-known restaurants, foodservice operators and commercial customers.

About the Person

Al Bolles, Ph.D., is executive vice president, chief technical and operations officer, leading ConAgra Foods’ Research, Quality & Innovation as well as ConAgra Foods’ Supply Chain. In this role, Al leads the company's research, quality and innovation teams, guiding the development of new products based on consumer insights and technological best practices, and he also provides strong alignment across ConAgra Foods by leading the natural connectivity between Supply Chain and R&D. Al joined ConAgra Foods in 2006 as executive vice president, Research, Quality & Innovation. 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. Throughout the years, Al and his team have brought new innovative products and ideas to the market that have changed the way people make and eat their food today. In 2007, he brought to market a highly successful product extension of the Healthy Choice® brand. Healthy Choice® Café Steamers™ entrées were named the No. 1 new food item, measured by sales across the grocery store in 2008 by Information Resources, Inc. (IRI). In 2011, he introduced the revolutionary new design of Orville Redenbacher’s® Pop Up Bowl™, the first bag-to-bowl design for Orville Redenbacher's popcorn, which pops into a ready-to-serve, freestanding bowl. Orville Redenbacher’s Pop Up Bowl innovation won several outstanding awards, including Product of the Year from Consumer Survey of Product Innovation in 2012, the Silver Edison Award in innovation from Edison Awards in 2012 and the Best New Consumer Products Editors’ Pick Award from Progressive Grocer in 2011, just to name a few. Al and his team are also dedicated to the safety and quality of the food we make, working to improve and ensure we have industry-leading food safety standards. Through this great work, our Research, Quality & Innovation team was voted R&D Team of the Year for large organizations by FoodProcessing.com in 2012, and received the Quality Achievement Award for Manufacturer of the Year by the Safe Quality Food Institute (SQFI) in 2011. 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.