Food company Hormel Foods has announced the retirement of its vice president of retail sales - East, Patrick Schwab [pictured].
The Minnesota-based Fortune 500 global branded food company added that it has promoted Darren Carter to the role.
"Pat has been a tremendous leader for our company and has made an outstanding impact on many sales divisions and customer relationships throughout his 37-year career with Hormel Foods. We wish him all the best in his well-deserved retirement," said PJ Connor, group vice president of retail sales at Hormel Foods.
Patrick Schwab
Schwab joined Hormel Foods in 1986 and held several sales positions in Atlanta, Ga., Cincinnati, Ohio, and Buffalo, N.Y., before stepping in as a national sales manager at its corporate office in Austin, Minnesota in 1993.
He advanced to the role of corporate manager of fresh pork sales, planning and logistics in 2000, followed by director of fresh meat sales in 2004.
In 2009, he was appointed as director of fresh meats and margin optimisation. He then worked his way to the position of senior vice president of sales for the consumer products sales division and vice president of Hormel Foods sales in 2012.
Darren Carter
In the new role, Carter, who currently serves as the company's vice president of sales strategy, will oversee the sales functions for all retail customers throughout the Eastern half of the United States.
Carter began his career in sales at Hormel Foods in 1996 in Lubbock, Texas, and moved into several sales roles in Chicago, Ill., Harrisburg, Pa., and Baltimore, Md.
In 2000, he took up a district team leader role in Orlando, Fla., and in 2004, he became a customer business manager.
In 2009, Carter joined the Walmart team for Hormel Foods in Bentonville, Ark., as a customer business manager and moved to its corporate office in Austin, Minn., in 2013 as a corporate manager of category sales for grocery products.
A year later was named the vice president of food, drug, mass and club channels for the company's former CytoSport business.
Connor commented, "I am excited for Darren to lead our Eastern US retail sales team. He has significant experience in sales leadership, strategic planning, and building trusted relationships with our retail partners. I am confident he is well-positioned to be successful in this important role."
