As vice president of corporate communications for Hormel Foods Corporation, Julie H. Craven oversees all communications and community relations activities, serves as the company’s chief spokesperson and is responsible for Studio H — the company’s creative and culinary services group. In this capacity, Craven has overall responsibility for media relations, employee communications, the company’s digital presence, issues management, corporate responsibility initiatives and the consumer response group. She serves as administrator to the Hormel Foods Charitable Trust, which features the company’s scholarship and matching gift programs.
Craven joined the company as director of consumer affairs in 1988, transferred to foodservice as a product manager in 1995 and was promoted to senior product manager three years later. She was promoted to director of corporate communications in 2001 and to vice president in 2005.
Prior to joining Hormel Foods, Craven gained operations and marketing services experience at Kraft Foods and international marketing and trade association experience with a USDA funded agricultural commodity program. She was a food editor at Meredith Corporation for Better Homes & Gardens special interest publications.
Craven holds a bachelor of science degree in nutrition and dietetics from Iowa State University and is a registered dietitian. She earned a master’s degree in food science and nutrition from the University of Missouri. She is a native of Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Craven is a member of a number of professional organizations, including the Arthur W. Page Society, Minnesota Women’s Economic Roundtable, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Minnesota Dietetic Association, Public Relations Society of America, Institute for Public Relations and International Association of Business Communicators. In addition, she is chairman of the Grocery Manufacturers of America communications committee.