Hormel Foods has announced the upcoming retirement of Pat Schwab, vice president of retail sales – East. The company announced that Darren Carter, vice president of sales strategy at Hormel Foods, will advance to vice president of retail sales – East, replacing Schwab in this role. Carter will oversee the sales functions for all retail customers throughout the Eastern half of the United States.

"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, retail sales. "I am excited for Darren to lead our Eastern U.S. 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."

Pat Schwab

Schwab joined Hormel Foods in 1986. He held several sales positions in Atlanta, Ga., Cincinnati, Ohio, and Buffalo, N.Y., before becoming a national sales manager at the corporate office in Austin, MN, in 1993. Schwab advanced to corporate manager of fresh pork sales, planning and logistics in 2000 and to director of fresh meat sales in 2004. He was named director of fresh meats and margin optimization in 2009 and advanced to senior vice president of sales for the consumer products sales division and vice president of Hormel Foods sales in 2012. Schwab is a native of Cedar Falls, Iowa, and a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in marketing.

Darren Carter

Carter began his career in sales in 1996 in Lubbock, Texas, and from there, advanced into several sales roles in Chicago, Harrisburg, PA, and Baltimore. In 2000, he advanced to a district team leader role in Orlando, and in 2004, he became a customer business manager. In 2009, Carter joined the Walmart team in Bentonville, AR as a customer business manager. He moved to the corporate office in Austin, MN, in 2013 as a corporate manager of category sales for grocery products, and a year later was named the vice president of food, drug, mass, and club channels for the company's former CytoSport business. He assumed his current position in 2019. Carter is a graduate of Purdue University with a bachelor's degree in sales and marketing.