BW20030213002183  20030213T130610Z UTC


( BW)(SARA-LEE)(SRL) Directorate Change

    Business Editors
    UK REGULATORY NEWS

    CHICAG0--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 13, 2003--

        Sara Lee Announces Management Succession for Company's
              Beverage and Household Products Businesses

    Meysman to retire from company and board of directors in June;
                       Nuhn to lead Sara Lee/DE

Sara Lee Corporation announced today that Frank L. Meysman, executive
vice president and director of Sara Lee Corporation, and chairman of
the board of management of Sara Lee/DE International b.v., based in
the Netherlands, will retire from the company and the board of
directors at the end of June, which is the close of Sara Lee's fiscal
year.

Meysman, 50, who is currently responsible for the global Beverage and
Household Products businesses, which are managed by Sara Lee/DE and
include the Coffee and Tea, Household and Body Care, and Direct
Selling divisions, is leaving Sara Lee to pursue a second career.
Adriaan Nuhn, 49, who currently serves as president of Sara Lee Coffee
and Tea and is a senior vice president of Sara Lee Corporation, will
succeed Meysman and will report to C. Steven McMillan, chairman,
president and chief executive officer of Sara Lee Corporation.

"Frank Meysman has contributed significantly to the growth and success
of Sara Lee's worldwide Beverage and Household Products businesses,
building and expanding some of the best global brands in Sara Lee's
portfolio. We wish him much success as he seeks new and greater
professional challenges, and we appreciate his commitment to a smooth
transition," said McMillan.

Hans van Liemt, chairman of the supervisory board of Sara Lee/DE,
joined McMillan in adding, "We thank Frank for his many years of
service to Sara Lee. As Frank's successor, Adriaan Nuhn is a proven
leader who has achieved an outstanding record of performance in both
our Beverage and Household and Body Care divisions. Adriaan's
promotion ensures continuity of management and strategy for Sara
Lee/DE."

Peter J.W. Roorda, 54, a senior vice president of Sara Lee Corporation
and current president of Sara Lee's Household and Body Care business
will become president of Sara Lee Coffee and Tea, succeeding Nuhn.
Vincent H.A.M. Janssen, 49, a regional vice president of Sara Lee's
Coffee and Tea division, will succeed Roorda as president of Sara
Lee's Household and Body Care business and will join the Sara Lee/DE
board of management. Roorda and Janssen will report to Nuhn.

All of these management changes will be effective June 29, 2003, the
beginning of Sara Lee's next fiscal year.

Meysman began his Sara Lee career in 1986 as vice president of
marketing for Douwe Egberts, Belgium, and he was promoted to president
of that business in 1989. The following year, he assumed
responsibility for corporate strategy and business development for
Sara Lee/DE. In 1992, Meysman was elected a vice president of Sara Lee
Corporation, appointed a member of the board of management of Sara
Lee/DE and assumed responsibility for the Household and Body Care
business. In 1994, he was named a senior vice president of the
corporation and appointed chairman of the board of management of Sara
Lee/DE. Meysman was named an executive vice president of the
corporation and elected to Sara Lee Corporation's board of directors
in 1997.

Meysman is a member of the supervisory board of VNU, a
Netherlands-based publishing company, and Grontmij, a
Netherlands-based engineer and consultancy company. He is also a board
member of GIMV, a Belgium-based investment company, and a member of
the advisory board of ABN AMRO bank.

Nuhn joined Sara Lee in 1990 as a general manager within the Household
and Body Care division in the Netherlands. During the next few years,
he held several positions of increasing responsibility. In 1995, Nuhn
was named president of the worldwide Household and Body Care division,
elected a corporate vice president and appointed to the board of
management of Sara Lee/DE. In 1996, he was named a senior vice
president of Sara Lee Corporation, and in 1999 Nuhn was appointed
president of the worldwide Coffee and Tea division.

Roorda began his career in product management at the Van Nelle Coffee
division in 1974. In 1989, when Sara Lee acquired Van Nelle Coffee,
Roorda was named president of DE Coffee Systems International, Sara
Lee's out-of-home coffee business. He was named a regional vice
president for Household and Body Care in 1996. In 1999, Roorda was
promoted to president of the Household and Body Care business, was
named a vice president of Sara Lee Corporation and became a member of
the board of management of Sara Lee/DE. The following year, Roorda was
elected a senior vice president of the corporation.

Janssen joined Sara Lee in 1992 as director of marketing and sales for
Douwe Egberts, the Netherlands. The following year he was named
president of that division, and during the next few years Janssen held
several positions of increasing responsibility in the Beverage line of
business. Janssen was named to his current position in 1999, with
responsibility for all Coffee and Tea activities in the Netherlands,
the U.K., Australia and Poland as well as the worldwide Coffee Systems
business.

Sara Lee Corporation (www.saralee.com) is one of the world's leading
branded consumer packaged goods companies, selling its products in
nearly 200 countries. The company has three global businesses - Food
and Beverage, Intimates and Underwear, and Household Products -
through which it manufactures and markets products of exceptional
quality and value under leading, well-known brand names such as Sara
Lee, Earth Grains, Jimmy Dean, Douwe Egberts, Chock full o'Nuts,
Hanes, Playtex, Bali, Dim, Kiwi, Ambi-Pur and Sanex.

   Short Name: Sara Lee Corporation
   Category Code: BOA
   Sequence Number: 00001908
   Time of Receipt (offset from UTC): 20030212T165819+0000

    --30--ccv/cgo* db/in

    CONTACT:  Media:                          
              Sara Lee Corporation            
              Julie Ketay, 312/558-8727       
              Joost den Haan, +31-30-297-2297 
                  or                          
              Analysts:                       
              Sara Lee Corporation            
              Aaron Hoffman, 312/558-8739     

    KEYWORD: ILLINOIS UNITED KINGDOM INTERNATIONAL EUROPE
    INDUSTRY KEYWORD: RETAIL FOODS/BEVERAGES APPAREL/TEXTILES
MANAGEMENT CHANGES
    SOURCE: Sara Lee Corporation

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