After a 25-year career at Hormel Foods, Jeff Frank has been named CEO of Organic Valley, a large cooperative of family farms. Frank was most recently vice president of grocery products for Austin, Minn.-based Hormel.
Current Organic Valley CEO Bob Kirchoff announced his retirement this week and will depart at the end of the month. Frank becomes just the third chief executive in the co-op's 35-year history.
"[Jeff] shares our values and vision of nourishing people, animals and the earth through ethically sourced organic food from small family farms," Steve Pierson, president of the Organic Valley board of directors, said in a statement. "He has the skills and experience to navigate the complex challenges facing small organic family farms."
The Organic Valley cooperative is owned by more than 1,700 family farms that are dedicated to organic farming principles. Based in La Farge, Wis., the co-op started in 1988 with just seven farmers.
The co-op includes 106 farmer-owners in Minnesota.
It sells a range of products under the Organic Valley brand: butter, milk, cheese, eggs, meat and produce.
Organic Valley, which says it is the largest farmer-owned organic cooperative in the U.S., had sales of $1.1 billion in 2021. The co-op has about 900 employees.
The cooperative added 61 farms from Maine, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont and Pennsylvania last year. Those moves come as larger farms enter the organic market, putting pressure on small family farms.
