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Scope of Report

Reporting Period

The 2008 Hormel Foods Corporate Responsibility (CR) Report covers fiscal year 2007 and fiscal year 2008 data (November 2006 to October 2008). Our 2007 report covered benchmark data from fiscal year 2006 (November 2005 to October 2006) and anecdotal data from November 2005 to October 2007, and was released January 2008. In an effort to standardize our reporting, we restructured our reporting timeline and reporting period. Moving forward, we plan to release our annual CR report in the spring, which will cover the previous fiscal year’s anecdotal and benchmark data. This report represents the first year we are using this timeline, so the reporting period covers benchmark data from two previous fiscal years — 2007 and 2008 — rather than just 2008. For example, this report contains environmental data from fiscal year 2007 and fiscal year 2008, ensuring that all benchmark data from 2007 is reported exhaustively. Some information that was reported anecdotally in the 2007 report may be restated in our benchmarking data because of the overlap in reporting periods.

This timeframe will help ensure accountability and accuracy in our measurements and reporting. In 2009, we are planning to report anecdotal and benchmark data from only November 2008 to October 2009, unless otherwise noted.

Boundary and Content

The boundary of the report includes all entities that Hormel Foods “exercises control or significant influence with regard to financial and operating policies and practices,” as defined by the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) Boundary Protocol. This year, we increased the number of facilities benchmarked — from 34 facilities to 41 facilities’ environmental data and 40 facilities to 44 facilities’ employee data.

The 2008 Hormel Foods Corporate Responsibility Report outlines our reporting period, boundary, content and stakeholder engagement.

We also included more anecdotal information from a greater variety of our facilities, such as corporate headquarters, plant locations and subsidiaries. Our numerous suppliers, who are independent businesses, supply packaging materials, office supplies, transportation and animals for our operations. Because of the sheer breadth and variety of suppliers and because they operate as independent businesses, we do not publicly report on their performance. Both suppliers and joint ventures are required to follow government standards and are closely monitored by governmental regulatory agencies. Where applicable, we discuss these government standards in this report. For the independent family farmers who supply a majority of our hogs, we require participation by the producer and employees of the producer who work with animals to participate in industry training and education programs. You can read more about these efforts in the Animal Welfare section.

The information within this report covers topics based on GRI indicators and relevancy to Hormel Foods’ business and our stakeholders. As part of deciding content, we assessed key issues in our industry and followed the concept of “materiality” as defined by GRI. Content was collected from various departments and locations throughout the company from subject-matter experts.

Data is measured through internal controls and systems, such as our Environmental Management System that measures air emissions, water and energy use. All monetary figures are in dollars.

Stakeholder Engagement

Hormel Foods has received input from external stakeholders, including the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), regarding its corporate responsibility efforts and reporting. A representative from Hormel Foods meets regularly with the ICCR (membership consists of an association of 275 faith-based institutional investors, including national denominations, religious communities, pension funds, foundations, hospital corporations, economic development funds, asset management companies, colleges and unions). Key topics discussed during these meetings included the importance of reporting more details about water use and employee demographics by job type. We worked to include information that was relevant to our business in this report. We will continue this dialogue and discuss ways we can improve our reporting.

Assurance

This is a self-assured report, but Hormel Foods is planning to seek external assurance for future reports.