Hormel Foods Corporation announced that four of its most seasoned leaders will move into new executive positions at the company to continue to drive the evolution of its brands and the growth of the company’s ethnic and food-forward portfolio.
Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minn., is a global branded food company with over $12 billion in annual revenue across more than 80 countries worldwide.
Scott Aakre was named group vice president and chief marketing officer of Hormel Foods’ Retail business. Natosha Walsh is the new vice president of marketing for Convenience Foods and Protein within the company’s Retail business. Lynn Egner took over as vice president of Retail-West, and Lisa Selk was appointed senior vice president of Brand Fuel.
Aakre will assume responsibility for continuing to evolve the company’s brand portfolio to meet the changing needs of today’s consumers, amplifying the scale in snacking and entertaining, and growing the company’s ethnic and food-forward portfolio.
The Retail business includes the company’s portfolio of well-known and category-leading brands such as Planters, Skippy, Justin’s, Dinty Moore, Hormel Chili, Corn Nuts, Herdez, and Wholly, as well as its iconic SPAM brand, among others.
Aakre most recently held the position of senior vice president of Brand Fuel, which includes the company’s innovation, consumer, and shopper insights teams, as well as its Digital Experience Group, the e-commerce team that supports Hormel’s brands and businesses in the virtual marketplace.
“Scott brings more than 30 years of brand innovation, business acumen, and marketing leadership to this role, which is critical to our long-term strategy,” said Jim Snee, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of Hormel Foods. “Scott understands what fuels our brands and how to apply innovation and insights to unlock value in the consumer marketplace.”
Aakre joined Hormel Foods in 1990 and held a variety of brand and product management positions for the company before being named group product manager in 2003 and director of marketing later that year. In 2005, he was promoted to vice president of marketing for the company’s former Grocery Products division. He assumed the role of vice president of corporate innovation and new product development in 2011. In 2022, Aakre was named senior vice president of Brand Fuel.
Aakre earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Minnesota. He is involved in numerous industry groups and donates his time to several nonprofit organizations, including the United Way.
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As the new vice president of marketing for Convenient Meals and Proteins, Natosha Walsh will be responsible for the strategic marketing efforts for many of the company’s leading brands, including SPAM, Skippy peanut butter, and Justin’s nut butters.
Most recently, Walsh served as vice president of Retail sales for national chains at Hormel Foods. Walsh replaces Lisa Selk, who was recently named senior vice president of Brand Fuel.
“Natosha has extensive sales and marketing experience and has been an outstanding leader in the Retail organization,” said Jim Snee, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of Hormel Foods. “Natosha understands the continually changing consumer and customer landscape as we focus on the continued growth of this very important brand portfolio.”
Walsh joined Hormel Foods in 1999. Throughout her career, she has held positions of increasing responsibility in brand management, sales, trade, category management, customer account leadership, and supply chain. She was named vice president of sales in 2018 and assumed her current role in 2022.
Walsh graduated from Kansas State University with degrees in marketing and international business. Active in the community and in industry organizations, she serves on the board of the Women’s Meat Industry Network and is currently the co-chair of Impact Austin.
Lynn Egner will be responsible for the company’s retail sales strategy and execution with the company’s customers in the Western Region of the United States, as vice president of Retail sales – West.
“Lynn has been instrumental in building valuable relationships with our customer partners across the Retail sales organization,” said Jim Snee, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of Hormel Foods. “Lynn is a proven people leader who will continue to build a team that brings a strategic, dynamic, and analytical approach to the marketplace with our portfolio of leading brands.”
Egner joined Hormel Foods in 1997 in the Foodservice sales organization and was quickly promoted to positions of increasing authority and reach, including at the national level. In 2014, she was promoted to director of distributor trade development for Foodservice and was named director of sales for Hormel Foods Deli Solutions in 2018. She assumed her current role of assistant vice president of Retail sales – West in 2022.
Egner graduated from Kansas State University with a bachelor’s degree in business. She is active in the community and in industry organizations.
Lisa Selk was appointed senior vice president of Brand Fuel. In this role, Selk will oversee the Brand Fuel Center of Excellence, which is the company’s hub for innovation, consumer and shopper insights, brand diagnostics, and technology.
The center also houses the Digital Experience Group, the e-commerce and digital content team that supports the company’s brands and businesses in the virtual marketplace.
“The Brand Fuel Center of Excellence is a critical function for the Retail business, supporting insights-led innovation and growth of our iconic and leading brands, and Lisa is the ideal person to lead this area,” said Deanna Brady, executive vice president of Retail for Hormel Foods. “I look forward to Lisa’s leadership of this dynamic team and the impact that Brand Fuel will continue to make on our brands and, ultimately, our company.”
Most recently, Selk served as vice president of Retail Marketing for Convenient Meals and Proteins for Hormel Foods.
Selk began her career with Hormel Foods in 1998 as a food scientist in the research and development area and has since held brand management and innovation leadership roles in multiple divisions.
She served as the marketing director over a portfolio of well-known Hormel Foods brands in the Grocery Products division before assuming leadership of the company’s former CytoSport business in 2017.
Selk was named director of Hormel Health Labs and Century Foods International in 2019. She was promoted to vice president of marketing for Meat Products in 2020 and assumed her current role in 2022.
A graduate of North Dakota State University, Selk received a bachelor’s degree in food science and a master’s degree in cereal science, followed by a master’s degree in business administration from the University of St. Thomas. She has completed the Kellogg Executive Development Program at Northwestern University and earned a certificate from the Harvard Business School Executive Agribusiness Seminar.