Kevin Myers, PhD

As senior vice president of research and development and quality control at Hormel Foods, Kevin Myers oversees product development, packaging, food safety sciences and lab services. Hormel Foods is a global branded food company with over $12 billion in annual revenue across more than 75 countries worldwide. Hormel Foods is a member of the S&P 500 Index and has been designated a S&P 500 Dividend King. Its brands include Planters^®, SKIPPY^®, SPAM^®, Hormel^® Natural Choice^®, Applegate^®, Justin’s^®, Columbus^®, WHOLLY^® Guacamole, Hormel^® Black Label^® and more than 30 other beloved brands. The company has been named on the “Global 2000 World’s Best Employers” list by Forbes magazine for three straight years, is one of Fortune magazine’s most admired food companies, has appeared on Corporate Responsibility Magazine’s “The 100 Best Corporate Citizens” list and was named one of America’s Most Responsible Companies by Newsweek, among other awards and accolades for its corporate responsibility and community service efforts.

Myers came to Hormel Foods with over a decade of experience in the food industry, holding management positions in food technology, research science and new product development.

In 2001, he started with the company as a research scientist for fresh and value-added meats at research and development. He was promoted to development leader of fresh and processed meats in 2005, and a year later, was promoted to group manager of product development. In 2012, he became the director of product, process and package development, and was promoted to vice president of research and development in October of 2013. He assumed his current role in March 2015.

A native of Mount Ayr, Iowa, Myers received a bachelor of science degree in agricultural education at Iowa State University, where he also earned his master’s and doctoral degrees in meat science and food science.

Myers is a member of the board of advisors at the University of Georgia Center for Food Safety and is on the board of advisors for the Institute of Food Safety and Health (a collaboration between FDA and Illinois Institute for Technology). He is also a member of the American Meat Science Association and the Institute of Food Technologists.

Myers is the lead author of two recently published scientific papers on meat science: Effects of high hydrostatic pressure and varying concentrations of sodium nitrite from traditional and vegetable-based sources on the growth of Listeria monocytogenes on ready-to-eat (RTE) sliced ham; and The effect of high hydrostatic pressure, sodium nitrite and salt concentration on the growth of Listeria monocytogenes on RTE ham and turkey.