ST. LOUIS – The CEO of ConAgra Foods Inc. got a 41 percent pay cut in 2008, the company said Friday.

ConAgra spokeswoman Teresa Paulsen said the company’s board decided to cut Rodkin's pay because of uneven performance in the company's consumer products and merchandising units.

CEO Gary received a $1 million salary, $1.8 million in incentive compensation and $4.9 million in stock and options. His $297,526 in perks and extra benefits included $98,215 for personal flights on company aircraft, according to the company's proxy, filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Rodkin has been CEO at ConAgra since 2005.

"It's a reflection of our pay for performance philosophy," Paulsen said. She reportedly said the company did what it set out to do overall last fiscal year, but the way it got those results was a bit mixed.

Rising commodity costs ate into ConAgra's packaged-food profits, while the company suffered a major recall of Banquet pot pies during October, Paulsen said. The company was still recovering from a recall of Peter Pan peanut butter during fiscal year 2007.

 

Source: Associated Press