OMAHA, Neb. — ConAgra Foods Inc. announced the completion of the sale of its Gilroy Foods & Flavors dehydrated and vegetable product operations to Olam International $250 million. The sale was announced in early June. The seasoning blends and flavors business and supporting plant operations were not part of the sale and remain with ConAgra Foods’ Commercial Foods segment.

ConAgra Foods sold substantially all of the assets of Gilroy Foods & Flavors’ dehydrated garlic, onion, capsicum and Controlled Moisture, GardenFrost, Redi-Made and fresh vegetable operations, all of which were part of the Commercial Foods reporting segment. Sales for those operations were approximately $300 million in fiscal 2010.

Other highlights of the sale include:

• Manufacturing facilities sold to Olam include Gilroy, Hanford and Modesto, Calif.; Fernley, Nev.; Las Cruces, N.M.; and Umatilla, Ore. A warehouse in King City, Calif., also was included in the sale.
  
• Approximately 1,500 employees transitioned to Olam, including plant employees and those supporting the dehydrated and vegetable products business located at the Omaha, Neb., headquarters and other satellite locations for Gilroy Foods.
  
• Manufacturing facilities not sold to Olam consist of the Carol Stream, Ill., Cranbury, N.J., and Hyrum, Utah, locations, which produce seasoning blends and flavors. ConAgra Foods maintains full ownership of these plants and operations continue as usual within the Commercial Foods reporting segment.

Greg Estep, formerly president of the divested business for ConAgra Foods, is now president of spices and dehydrates for Olam International. Paul Maass, president of ConAgra Mills, assumed the additional responsibility of leading the remaining seasoning blends and flavors business under the Spicetec Flavors & Seasonings brand name.

Olam International is a leading global integrated supply chain manager and processor of agricultural products and food ingredients, sourcing 20 products with a direct presence in 64 countries and supplying them to more than 10,600 customers. Based in Singapore, Olam ranks among the top 40 largest listed companies in Singapore in terms of market capitalization and is a component stock in the Straits Times Index (STI), MSCI Singapore Free, S&P Agribusiness Index and the DAXglobal Agribusiness Index.