ods maker ConAgra Foods Inc said long-time Chief Executive Gary Rodkin would retire in May 2015 at the end of the company's fiscal year.Rodkin, who has been at the helm of ConAgra since 2005, has been under pressure from shareholders to fix problems resulting from the Omaha-based company's troubled $5 billion acquisition of private brands business Ralcorp in January 2013.
The Ralcorp acquisition made ConAgra, whose products include Slim Jim meat snacks and Healthy Choice frozen meals, the biggest U.S. private-label food company.
Rodkin, 62, said in June that the company had underestimated the issues it inherited by buying Ralcorp, which had just started to restructure.
ConAgra's revenue has jumped about 56 percent and its operating income about 54 percent under Rodkin.
Reuters reported on Friday that Rodkin was expected to retire in the next several months.
ConAgra said on Monday it had set up a search committee to find a successor.
The committee would be led by its independent director, Richard Lenny, a former chief executive of Hershey Co.
Rodkin previously served as chairman and chief executive of PepsiCo beverages and foods in North America.
ConAgra's shares, which had fallen about 8 percent so far this year to Friday, closed at $30.96 on the New York Stock Exchange.
