About
Kent Partida
Food & Protein Industry Consultant
Thirty-seven years in protein, and every one of them within arm’s reach of the meat case. Kent started inside the largest grocer in the country, moved to the supplier side selling into it, and finished in the technology that proves what is in it. Very few people in this industry have worked all three, and none of them explain it the way an operator does.
How the three sides fit together
Kent joined The Kroger Company in 1988 and stayed 21 years. He ran perishables for the Food4Less division rollout in Chicago — meat, deli and produce, with full P&L — and finished as Director of Meat and Seafood in Indianapolis, responsible for 153 stores across five states and four banners doing over $450 million a year. In 2009 that department beat its profit budget by $8 million.
That is the retailer’s seat: assortment, shrink, labour, pricing, and the discipline of a department that has to earn its square footage every week.
In 2009 he crossed the table to Meyer Natural Foods, first running national accounts and then as Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. He led a 30-person team behind Laura’s Lean Beef, Meyer Natural Angus, Dakota Grass Fed and Local Harvest across the U.S. and Canada, built a category management function around 84.51°/dunnhumby data, and grew volume by more than 1.5 million pounds a year while delivering record margins in a down cattle market.
That is the supplier’s seat: line reviews, private label, new item launches, and the specific problem of getting a buyer to say yes.
From 2016 to 2025 he was Associate Director of Value Chain and Consumer Affairs at Merck Animal Health / IdentiGen, working with retailers, food service operators and packers to validate their supply chains with DNA traceability — proving the exact origin of meat and seafood and confirming the species in the chain was the species on the label.
That is the technology seat: the part of the industry that decides, increasingly, which suppliers a major retailer is still willing to buy from.
What he is like to work with
Direct. Kent will tell a producer their cost structure cannot survive the account they are chasing, and he will tell a retailer the reason their service case loses money is that nobody owns it. The value of having sat in every chair is that there is no side to flatter.
He is based in Windsor, Colorado and works with clients across the United States & Canada. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
The three seats
Where the experience came from
37
Years in meat, retail and food marketing
1988 – 2025
$450M
Retail meat & seafood P&L managed
Kroger, 153 stores
3
Sides of the table
Retailer · Supplier · Technology
100K
Social audience built in food
Consumer affairs
-
1988 – 2009
Retailer
The Kroger Company
Twenty-one years at the largest grocer in the country, ending as Director of Meat and Seafood over 153 stores across five states and four banners.
- $450M Annual meat & seafood sales managed
- 153 Stores, 5 states, 4 banners
- +$8M Over profit budget, 2009
-
2009 – 2015
Supplier
Meyer Natural Foods
Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Laura’s Lean Beef, Meyer Natural Angus, Dakota Grass Fed and Local Harvest — a 30-person sales team and a $2.7M marketing budget.
- 30 Person sales team led
- 1.5M lbs Year-over-year volume growth
- Record Margins in a down cattle market
-
2016 – 2025
Technology
Merck Animal Health / IdentiGen
Associate Director of Value Chain and Consumer Affairs — DNA traceability for the beef, pork and seafood supply chains of major retailers, food service operators and protein producers.
- DNA Origin & species verification
- 9 yrs Inside food traceability tech
- 100K Social audience built
Education & training
Formal grounding
- University of Southern California Food Industry Management 2006
- ASLAN — Other-Centered Selling Workshop Sales methodology 2023
- Merck — Key Account Management Program Key account management 2024
Next step
Talk to Kent directly
No account team, no junior associate. Engagements are run by the person whose name is on the door.