Hormel Foods Corp. has announced the retirement of Scott Aakre, group vice president and chief marketing officer for Retail, effective at the end of the company’s fiscal year 2025. Aakre has been with Hormel for 35 years, and he will transition to Hormel Foods’ board of directors effective May 15, 2025, as well.
Aakre began working for Hormel Foods in 1990, working through various management positions for the company in those first 15 years, until he was named vice president of marketing for grocery products in 2005. Six years later, he became vice president of corporate innovation and new product development. In 2022, he was named senior vice president of Brand Fuel, a position he held for about a year, at which point he assumed his current role. He has been on the board of directors for The Hormel Foundation non-profit organization since April of this year.
Upon Aakre’s retirement, the company also announced that Jeff Baker, group vice president of Retail marketing for Value-Added Meats, will assume the role of group vice president for Retail, with responsibility for evolving the brand portfolio, amplify its presence in snacking and entertaining, and drive growth in the food portfolio.
Baker has also spent 35 years at Hormel, working his way up through the foodservice and deli sides of the company. He was named vice president of marketing, Foodservice, in 2012, then group vice president of Foodservice in 2015. In 2018, he became group vice president of Deli, and was moved to his current role in 2022.
