Hattan became president of Daily’s in 2014 following Seaboard Foods’ sale of 50 percent ownership of the company to Triumph Foods.
“With great sadness, we share the news of Kelly’s untimely death. He was a vibrant, passionate man dedicated to Daily’s and its employees and customers,” said Terry Holton, president and CEO of Seaboard Foods. “He will be greatly missed, and our heartfelt condolences go out to his family and friends.”
Daily’s experienced significant sales and production growth under Hattan’s leadership including the construction and opening of a new bacon processing plant located in St. Joseph in 2016.
In 2007, Hattan joined Seaboard Foods as vice president of sales for Daily’s. He later became vice president of processed meats for Seaboard to strategically align the processed meats division for continued growth.
Hattan served as the director of sales for Tyson Foods from 2002 to 2006, spending time in both Chicago and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, before joining Seaboard. From 1998 to 2001 he served as the regional manager at Doskocil where he was named the company’s Sales Manager of the Year in 2001.
From 1990 to 1998, Hattan was an account executive for Hormel in Nashville, Tennessee and territory manager in eastern Pennsylvania, covering the Philadelphia and Harrisburg markets. He was a four-time recipient of the Hormel Chairman’s Inner Circle Award for elite sales performance.
Hattan loved the Green Bay Packers and began his work in the food industry at 18 managing the restaurant at The Shoreline Resort in Gills Rock, Wisconsin.
In 1990, Hattan graduated magna cum laude from the Univ. of Wisconsin-Stout with a bachelor’s degree in Hotel & Restaurant Management. As a senior, he was recognized with a Salute to Excellence Award, presented annually by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF) to the top two students in each accredited Hotel and Restaurant Management program nationally.
Daily’s Premium Meats, under Hattan’s leadership, sponsored NRAEF student programming because of the support the NRAEF provided to in the development his food industry career.
A native of the Chicago suburb, Yorkville, Illinois, Hattan resided in Overland Park, Kansas, and is survived by his wife, Lori, and two daughters, Emily and Abby.
