Meat, poultry and prepared foods giant Hormel Foods Corporation, Austin, Minn., said it promoted Scott Aakre to vice president of corporate innovation and new product development. Aakre previously was vice president of marketing for Hormel's shelf-stable Grocery Products division. In conjunction, Hormel said it hired Whitney Velasco-Aznar to assume Aakre’s previous position.

Hormel said Aakre joined the company in 1990 as an assistant product manager in meat products and was promoted to various positions within the department. In 1998, he was promoted to group product manager for meat products. He later assumed the duties of group product manager for Grocery Products and was promoted to director of marketing for the division in 2003 before being named vice president of marketing for Grocery Products in 2005.

“Scott’s new position will allow him to focus on our corporate innovation processes and new product development,” said Jeffrey M. Ettinger, Hormel chairman and chief executive officer. “We welcome Whitney and look forward to the marketing acumen she will add for our Grocery Products portfolio, which includes the SPAM family of products and Hormel chili.”