A History of Innovation
“Originate, don’t imitate.”
- George A. Hormel
More than a century ago, George A. Hormel prepared himself for a life of innovation and hard work. His career took him from Toledo, Ohio where he landed his first job as a paperboy, to the gritty packinghouses of Chicago, where he worked 14-hour days for $10 a month. Hormel’s ultimate success would amaze both friends and competitors alike.
Hormel founded Geo. A. Hormel & Company in 1891 in Austin, Minn. “Now don’t think I’m going to be just another butcher,” Hormel wrote his mother. “It is the pork packing business I am about to enter into.” Claimed a reporter for the Austin Register, “Mr. Hormel possesses tireless, persistent enterprise and vim, which is bound to bring success.” Considering the size and reputation of our company today, that reporter was prescient.
Making Austin—and the World—Home
Austin, Minn., was small but thriving when George A. Hormel started his business venture. Even in 1891, the ambitious young entrepreneur planned for growth well beyond his little retail butcher shop on Mill Street. Just outside of town, he built a complete meat processing plant where only the best quality would carry the name: Hormel.
There was no keeping George “down on the farm.” From 1911 on, he began running national advertisements. By the outbreak of World War I, Geo. A. Hormel & Company had developed a substantial export business.
Mastering Invention
It was Jay C. Hormel, named president in 1929, who brought a penchant for daring new products and promotions to his father’s company. No one had ever seen ham in a can, let alone “sausage trucks” rolling across the Midwestern countryside or a women’s drum-and-bugle corps that toured, sang and sold Hormel Foods products. Nor had the world seen a luncheon meat named SPAM, which was introduced in 1937 and achieved an 18 percent market share within the year.
Ahead of his time, Jay also invented new methods of rewarding company employees for personal initiative, introducing incentive pay and a Joint Earnings Plan.
Satisfying America’s Appetites
During the period following the World War II, Geo. A. Hormel & Company enjoyed a decade of extraordinary peace and prosperity. Consumer appetites seemed insatiable, and the company added plants and boosted production to keep pace. Mary Kitchen® roast beef and corned beef hash and Hormel® deviled ham entered the marketplace during this time. By 1959, Hormel Foods had sold its billionth can of SPAM® luncheon meat.
But it was the introduction of cellophane packaging that truly revolutionized the 1950s. Capitalizing on the trend toward this new convenience packaging, Hormel Foods introduced 16 new products in the year 1950 alone, such as Hormel skinless frankfurters, Flavor-Saver sliced bacon and midget link sausage.
Gaining Momentum as a National Brand
The 1960s was an exciting era of plant and product proliferation, as Hormel Foods truly became a national brand name with manufacturing and distribution sites hundreds of miles in all directions from Austin, Minn.
While the company was busy growing in America, we were also casting an ambitious eye toward foreign export business. At one point, overseas business accounted for nearly one-third of the company’s profits. During this time, Hormel Foods developed licensing agreements and subsidiary arrangements for the production of Hormel Foods’ products overseas, thus expanding our international trade.
Unprecedented Growth and Investment
The 1970s heralded a decade of unprecedented growth and investment in equipment and facilities at Hormel Foods. An assortment of new products, many of them line extensions geared for specific market segments, were introduced.
Family favorites such as Cure 81® hams, Brown ‘n Serve® and Little Sizzlers® sausages and Wranglers® smoked franks found their way to consumers’ tables. The combination of the company’s continued efforts in marketing and advertising, its new, people-pleasing products and ongoing construction of new, efficient plants contributed to solid sales and earnings growth.
Teamwork and Product Innovation
The last twenty-five years have seen intense competition, tantalizing new product introductions, and what some might call the “reinvention” of Hormel Foods. Since 1980, Hormel Foods has consistently posted new records in sales, earnings and earnings per share. Key to our success is the dedication of Research & Development resources toward responding to consumer trends that call for healthy, highly portable, convenient, single-serve and microwaveable products.
At Hormel Foods, our willingness to innovate with ambitious new product introductions and experiment with leading-edge packaging technologies has paid off in product success, but more importantly, in terms of providing our consumers with products that meet their lifestyle needs. The company has truly taken George A. Hormel’s words and his philosophy to heart—and put them into practice.