Organic Valley, a national farmer-owned dairy cooperative, has a new CEO: Jeff Frank, formerly an executive at the U.S. food processing company Hormel Foods.

Frank will begin his new role on Jan. 23, replacing outgoing CEO Bob Kirchoff, who is retiring.

Frank will be the Organic Valley’s third CEO. The co-op, founded in 1988, is owned by more than 1,700 organic family farms nationwide.

Steve Pierson, president of the Organic Valley board of directors and an Oregon dairy farmer, said Frank shares the co-op members’ values of “nourishing people, animals and the earth through ethically sourced organic food from small family farms.”

“It’s truly an honor for me to join the cooperative,” said Frank. “I have a deep admiration for the mission of this organization, and I’m excited to collaborate to drive continued success into the future.”

Pierson, the board president, said that in addition to sharing the co-op members’ vision, Frank also brings unique food industry-related skills and experience to the organization.

“He (Frank) has the skills and experience to navigate the complex challenges facing small organic family farms,” said Pierson.

For the past 25 years, Frank has worked at Hormel Foods. He started with Hormel in 1998 and has worked in various leadership and brand management roles since then. In 2009, he become the vice president of marketing at MegaMex Foods, one of the sub-brands in Hormel’s portfolio. In that role, he dealt with supply chain logistics and got packaged consumer goods to market.

Frank studied business administration and Spanish at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. After completing his undergraduate degree, he went on to get a master of business administration from the University of St. Thomas and an executive certificate from the University of California-Los Angeles School of Management. He also completed the executive education program at Harvard Business School.

“I am confident that Jeff will continue to uphold and enhance the reputation and values of Organic Valley,” said Kirchoff, the outgoing CEO.