Austin, Minnesota-based Hormel Foods Corporation has launched a new strategic operating model, aligning its businesses to be more agile, consumer and customer focused and market driven. Effective Oct. 31, the company will transition to three operating segments – retail, foodservice and international.
“Hormel Foods is a distinctly different company than it was a decade ago, with a food forward, growth-oriented portfolio of leading brands and products that are aligned with our customer and consumer needs,” said Jim Snee, board chairman, president and CEO at Hormel Foods.
“Our new operating model is a culmination of our recent strategic actions, which included numerous portfolio-building acquisitions including the Planters snacking business, the creation of One Supply Chain, the modernization of our technology and e-commerce capabilities, and most recently, our transformational efforts at Jennie-O Turkey store. This new alignment will empower our 20,000 global team members, with a more refined organizational structure that is accountable, nimble and focused on creating the Hormel Foods of the future.”
The new operating model will support the company’s six strategic priorities:
- Expand leadership in foodservice;
- Protect and grow its core brands;
- Aggressively develop its global presence;
- Amplify scale in snacking and entertaining;
- Enhance growth of its ethnic and food forward portfolios; and,
- Continue to transform the company.
The company’s largest operating segment – retail – will include its most recognizable brands, many that hold a No. 1 or No. 2 market share in their respective categories. The retail segment will be focused on Hormel Foods consumer brands in the retail marketplace.
These brands include the recently acquired Planters and Corn Nuts, in addition to Spam, Skippy, Columbus, Applegate, Hormel Natural Choice, Jennie-O, Hormel Black Label, Herdez, Wholly and Justin’s. The new retail segment will be led by Deanna Brady, who will be EVP of retail. Brady currently oversees the company’s refrigerated foods segment.
The foodservice operating segment will serve leading foodservice establishments, including restaurants, hotels, educational and health care institutions, convenience stores and entertainment venues. The company’s sales into the foodservice channel have continued to experience growth due to its portfolio of products in the pizza toppings and bacon categories. This segment will be led by Mark Ourada as group VP of foodservice.
The international segment will continue to focus on growing its presence outside the U.S. This includes growing global brands, accelerating growth and investment in China, Brazil and Indonesia, and further leveraging its partnerships in the Philippines, South Korea and Europe.
The company recently announced a new research, development and innovation center will be opening in China to serve as its food forward innovation and culinary creation hub for the Asia-Pacific region. Swen Neufeldt will continue to lead the company’s international business as group VP, president of Hormel Foods International Corporation.
