President and CEO of Campbell Soup Co., Douglas R. Conant, plans to step down from his role as CEO at the end of the company's fiscal year on July 31, 2011. Denise M. Morrison has been elected by the Board as the company's Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer and as a Director of the company, effective Oct. 1, 2010.
Other appointments include: Sean Connolly, will succeed Morrison as President of the North America Soup, Sauces and Beverages division, which includes the company's U.S. Soup business, Sauces and Beverages, Campbell Canada and North America Foodservice; Mark Alexander will become President - Campbell International, responsible for the company's businesses in Asia Pacific, Europe and Latin America; Pat Callaghan will continue to serve as President - Pepperidge Farm, reporting to Morrison; Irene Chang Britt will assume the role of Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer, Strategy Officer, leading strategic planning for the company's global businesses, and be responsible for Global Marketing Services and Global Consumer and Customer Insights; and George Dowdie, Senior Vice President - Global R&D and Quality, will remain in his current role, reporting to Morrison.
"I am thrilled to have the chance to work with this dynamic leadership team," said Morrison. "It is a team of proven leaders with penetrating understanding of our brands, our opportunities for growth and a culture that values engagement, diversity and inclusion. Individually and collectively, this team has the talent to accelerate the growth of our great brands, delight consumers and customers with innovation, responsibly expand our business globally, manage our costs to fund our growth and build on our culture of high engagement to reach our potential for high performance."
In other leadership changes, Larry McWilliams has been appointed Senior Vice President - International Business Development, effective October 1, and Carl Johnson becomes Senior Vice President & Senior Advisor to the CEO, and will retire from the company on April 1, 2011. McWilliams and Johnson will continue to report to Conant.