SMITHFIELD, VA. – Smithfield Foods Inc. named Kraig Westerbeek as its president of hog production operations, a role he will assume Feb. 29. Westerbeek, whose career with Smithfield began in 1993, will report to Shane Smith, president and chief executive officer.

“Kraig has been an extremely valuable asset to Smithfield Foods throughout his career,” Smith said. “His extensive experience in our hog production division has helped keep Smithfield on the forefront of our industry, and I look forward to his continued leadership.”

After initially working for the company as the environmental manager for Quarter M Farms, prior to its acquisition by Murphy Family Farms, Westerbeek went on to work in several other leadership positions. He worked as environmental compliance director for eight years and moved on to the role of assistant vice president of environment, health and safety compliance in 2010. Working as vice president, support operations for Smithfield Hog Production from 2014 to 2017, Westerbeek led more than 100 employees and was responsible for environmental compliance, engineering, construction, feed manufacturing, transportation and animal welfare.

Westerbeek also helped create and develop Smithfield Renewables, which was introduced in 2017 with the goals of reducing carbon and leading renewable energy efforts. In 2022, he was named chief development officer of Monarch Renewables, a collaboration with Roeslein Alternative Energy and TPG Rise Climate focused on converting methane from manure to carbon-negative renewable gas.

During his storied career, Westerbeek previously served on the board of the North Carolina Pork Council and the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC). He is currently a member of NPPC’s environmental committee and a member of the Duplin County Health Board.