DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

ConAgra Foods Inc. (CAG) promoted Chief Financial Officer Andre J. Hawaux to lead its consumer foods division and Controller John F. Gehring to replace Hawaux.

Hawaux, 48, joined the giant food maker in 2006 as financial chief after 25 years of experience with PepsiCo Inc. (PEP) and its bottlers. He will oversee Conagra's $7.5 billion consumer-foods business, which makes Healthy Choice, Marie Callender's and Banquet brands of frozen meals.

"Andre is a proven operator, and over the past several months, he's shown very strong leadership in improving our execution and analysis within" the segment, said Chief Executive Gary Rodkin. The division's sales rose 4.4% and profit rose 2.2% as higher prices more than offset a 4% volume drop.

Gehring, 47, served as interim CFO before Hawaux joined the company. His most recent responsibilities included financial oversight for the company's commercial foods business.

ConAgra - whose brands also include Chef Boyardee pasta, Hunt's ketchup and Peter Pan peanut butter - saw profits fall in the latest quarter amid the absent of its trading operations. They were sold in 2008 to allow the company to focus on its food business.

ConAgra shares were recently up 2% at $16.94.

-By Kathy Shwiff, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5975; Kathy.Shwiff@dowjones.com

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