Hormel Foods Announces Appointment of Jason Levine to New Enterprise-wide Chief Marketing Officer Position

New role further strengthens marketing capabilities and accelerates growth strategy

AUSTIN, Minn., Dec. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL), a Fortune 500 global branded food company, today announced that Jason Levine has been appointed to a newly created enterprise-wide chief marketing officer (CMO) role, a move that underscores the company's commitment to driving growth and innovation as it continues to strengthen its consumer-centric strategy.

Levine is a seasoned marketing leader with more than two decades of experience in the consumer packaged goods industry, spanning global brands and emerging companies. He spent 19 years with Mondelēz International, beginning at Kraft Foods Group. He ultimately rose to Mondelēz's CMO for North America, where he led marketing for a multibillion-dollar portfolio of brands, including OREO and RITZ, driving innovation, brand modernization, and cross-category growth in highly competitive markets. Most recently, Levine served as CMO for PIM Brands, a snacking confectionery company that includes Welch's® fruit snacks.

"We're excited to have Jason join us and take on this new role — an important step in advancing our marketing capabilities and driving growth across all segments of our business," said John Ghingo, president of Hormel Foods. "Jason brings deep expertise in global brand building, innovation and digital strategy across well-known brands, and his leadership will help us unlock the full potential of our iconic brands and accelerate our long-range growth ambitions."

This role is focused on advancing marketing capabilities across the company and enabling enterprise-wide growth. Levine will concentrate on areas such as brand strategy, digital capabilities, and creating marketing platforms that scale across channels and markets. Enterprise business analytics — spanning revenue growth management and brand and shopper analytics — will now be aligned with the company's Brand Fuel function, its hub for innovation, consumer and shopper insights, brand diagnostics, e‑commerce, digital content and brand communications. Under Levine's leadership, this integration will support the strategic use of data and technology to enable impactful brand marketing, innovation and consumer-driven growth across channels and markets.

Levine's appointment underscores the company's commitment to placing consumers at the center of its strategy and driving sustainable growth.

About Jason Levine Levine brings more than two decades of experience in marketing leadership across global food and consumer packaged goods companies. He served as chief marketing officer for North America at Mondelēz International, overseeing a multibillion‑dollar portfolio of brands and driving large‑scale innovation, including the launch of new snack platforms and omnichannel marketing programs. He also held marketing leadership roles at Kraft Foods Group, where he contributed to brand development and portfolio growth initiatives. Most recently, Levine held senior roles at PIM Brands, Whisps Snacks and Sabra Dipping Company, where he led category expansion, introduced new product lines and advanced digital engagement strategies.

Levine earned his MBA from Tulane University and a bachelor's degree in business from Northeastern University.

About Hormel Foods — Inspired People. Inspired Food.™Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minnesota, is a global branded food company with approximately $12 billion in annual revenue. Its brands include PLANTERS®, SKIPPY®, SPAM®, HORMEL® NATURAL CHOICE®, APPLEGATE®, WHOLLY®, HORMEL® BLACK LABEL®, COLUMBUS®, JENNIE-O® and more than 30 other beloved brands. The company is a member of the S&P 500 Index and the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats, was named one of the best companies to work for by U.S. News & World Report, one of America's most responsible companies by Newsweek, recognized by TIME magazine as one of the World's Best Companies and has received numerous other awards and accolades for its corporate responsibility and community service efforts. The company lives by its purpose statement — Inspired People. Inspired Food.™ — to bring some of the world's most trusted and iconic brands to tables across the globe. For more information, visit hormelfoods.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This news release contains forward-looking statements, which are based on the company's current assumptions and expectations. These statements are typically accompanied by the words "will," "would," or similar words or expressions. The principal forward-looking statements in this news release include statements regarding the company's growth strategy and ambitions.

All such forward-looking statements are intended to enjoy the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Although the company believes there is a reasonable basis for the forward-looking statements, its actual results could be materially different. The most important factors which could cause the company's actual results to differ from its forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, risks related to the deterioration of economic conditions; the risk of disruption of operations; food safety risks; fluctuations in commodity prices and availability of raw materials and other inputs; fluctuations in market demand for the company's products; risks related to the company's ability to respond to changing consumer preferences; damage to the company's reputation or brand image; and the other risks and uncertainties described in Item 1A – Risk Factors of the company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, which can be accessed at www.hormelfoods.com in the "Investors" section. Though the company has attempted to list comprehensively these important cautionary risk factors, the company cautions that other factors may in the future prove to be important in affecting the company's business or results of operations. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and the company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement except as otherwise required by law.

SOURCE Hormel Foods Corporation