1919–1949: Founding and early history Conagra was founded in September 1919 as Nebraska Consolidated Mills (NCM) by Alva Kinney. The company was a conglomerate of four
grain milling companies headquartered in
Grand Island,
Nebraska. The company moved its headquarters to
Omaha, Nebraska, in 1922 following the purchase of Updike Mill. That year, NCM posted a profit of $175,000, its first profit since its founding.
1950–1970: Expansion and decline After researching new uses for its flour, NCM funded the establishment of the
Duncan Hines brand of cake mixes in 1951 as a way to market more flour. It sold its Duncan Hines assets to
Procter & Gamble in 1956. In 1957, NCM built its first mill outside the continental United States, constructing a plant in
Puerto Rico. Conagra Brands would reacquire the Duncan Hines brand in 2018 through its acquisition of
Pinnacle Foods, which had bought the brand from Procter & Gamble in 1997.
1971–1999: Rebranding to ConAgra NCM changed its name to ConAgra in 1971. The name is a combination of the Latin words
con ("with") and
agrī ("soil" or "earth"). ConAgra hired
Pillsbury executive
C. Michael Harper to be its
chief operating officer in the fall of 1974 and tasked him with stabilizing the company. By the mid-1980s, ConAgra was
vertically integrated across the food supply chain, selling fertilizer, tires and clothing; with companies for animal and crop harvesting, and for exporting and trading. ConAgra was found guilty of tampering with scales when measuring the weight of incoming birds from Alabama chicken farmers in 1989 and settled a
class action suit in 1995 levied against ConAgra,
Hormel Foods, and Delta Pride Catfish for conspiring with other companies to
fix the price of
catfish. Two years later, ConAgra pleaded guilty in a federal case to spraying water on grain in its Peavey unit, fraudulently increasing the grain's weight to boost profits, and bribing federal officials. The company was charged $8.3 million for the case. It also settled a civil suit with farmers in Indiana for $2 million. During this period, ConAgra was also criticized for some of its business practices, including the demolition of the
Jobbers Canyon Historic District to build the company's new headquarters, the company's use of pesticides, sanitary and labor practices in its meat processing divisions and the pricing of consumer goods. . Contains the ConAgra Foods logo used from 2009 to 2017. By 1992, ConAgra's annual sales had topped $21 billion. The company continued to make acquisitions and launch product lines throughout the 1990s, including
Marie Callender's frozen product line in 1994 and
GoodMark Foods in 1998. Also in 1998, ConAgra acquired several brands from
RJR Nabisco, including
Egg Beaters and Nabisco's table spread unit, which included margarines under the
Parkay and
Blue Bonnet brands.
2000–2015: From meatpacking to packaged goods ConAgra rebranded as ConAgra Foods in 2000. The first half of the ensuing decade was marked by the sale of the company's fresh and refrigerated meat units, beginning with the sale of its majority stake in
Swift & Company to
Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst and Booth Creek Management in 2002. The Swift sale ended ConAgra's involvement in the fresh beef and pork industries. The same year, ConAgra joined a coalition of food producers and trade associations, including
PepsiCo,
General Mills, and
CropLife International to defeat
Oregon Ballot Measure 27, which would have required the labeling of
genetically modified food in the state. In July 2004, six people were killed in a shooting inside the ConAgra Foods plant in Kansas City, Kansas. In 2006, the company sold its refrigerated meats divisions, including the
Butterball,
Eckrich, and Armour brands, to
Smithfield Foods for $575 million. The same year, the company closed its
Hunt-Wesson operations in
Irvine, California, and split the unit between Omaha and
Naperville, Illinois. In 2008, ConAgra purchased Watts Brothers Farms from
Don Watts and purchased
Ralcorp in 2012. Also in 2012, the company joined with PepsiCo,
Nestlé and other food firms to defeat
Proposition 37, a California
ballot measure which would have mandated the labeling of genetically modified foods. The following year, Conagra joined with
Walmart and approximately 20 other companies to seek the establishment of national labeling standards for genetically modified foods. In 2012, ConAgra acquired the
P.F. Chang's and
Bertolli licensed brands from
Unilever. In 2014, ConAgra acquired TaiMei Potato Industry Limited, an
Inner Mongolian potato processor. ConAgra sold Ralcorp to
TreeHouse Foods for $2.7 billion in 2015 and purchased Blake's All Natural Foods the same year. ConAgra spun off Lamb Weston into an independent company in 2016. During the 2000s and 2010s, ConAgra faced scrutiny for its environmental practices. On January 7, 2014, a California Superior Court found that ConAgra and its co-defendants were liable in creating a public nuisance due to
lead-based paint the companies sold. Ten local governments in California filed the suit and the court ordered Conagra,
NL Industries and
Sherwin-Williams to pay $1.15 billion to remove or abate the lead in homes located in those cities and counties. ConAgra was named a defendant in the suit as it had assumed the liabilities of W.P. Fuller & Co. following a series of mergers; after multiple appeals, the company reached a settlement amount of $305 million in 2019. ConAgra also drew attention for its labor and health practices. A company plant in Colorado had been cited numerous times from 1999 to 2002 for violating worker safety. 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 charges involved a July 1999
Teamsters strike at a Gilroy Foods plant in
King City, California, then owned by Basic Vegetable Products LP but later purchased by ConAgra. In August 2001, the company and union negotiated an end to the two-year strike with a new contract, but the recall of workers excluded some 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. Also 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 20 years, some even longer," and were primarily
Hispanic and female.
2016–present: Relocation In 2016, ConAgra cut 1,500 jobs, transferred its headquarters to
Chicago,
Illinois, and changed its name to "Conagra Brands". On September 22, 2017, Conagra announced that it was acquiring
Angie's Artisan Treats, maker of Angie's Boomchickapop popcorn. The company announced the acquisition was completed on October 23, 2017. On June 27, 2018, Conagra Brands announced the acquisition of
Pinnacle Foods for $8.1 billion. The acquisition closed on October 26, 2018. On December 8, 2020, Conagra announced that it was selling the
Peter Pan brand to
Post Holdings. The company announced the transaction was completed on January 25, 2021. In June 2021, Conagra announced its commitment to source 100% cage-free eggs by 2024. In February 2022, ConAgra paid $18 million to settle a class action from over 8,000 food-processing workers in California who argued that the company had violated California wage law. == Products ==