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Good Feeds Us All

Global Impact Report
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Good Feeds Us All is the company’s next-generation global impact framework and evolved naturally and purposefully from our earlier 20 By 30 Challenge.

The 20 By 30 Challenge cast a wide net, which was reflective of where we were in our global impact journey at the time. Good Feeds Us All is now allowing us to organize and streamline our company’s global impact work under two interconnected pillars — Planet and Society — reflecting the ecosystems and people our business depends on every day. Our new guiding principles reflect our continued focus on what matters most, which include supporting our team members and communities, advancing responsible practices across our supply chain and continuing to deliver trusted, high-quality food.

Anchored by our guiding principles, we’re focused on following a clear path that helps us drive positive impact for our people, industry and the communities we serve. Good Feeds Us All articulates the global impact goals of Hormel Foods, at the same time powering meaningful action by:

  • Reaffirming the company’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions within our operational boundary;
  • Conveying a clearer focus on responsible sourcing across the entire supply chain;
  • Enhancing objectives around consumers and product quality, ensuring delivery of trusted, high-quality food.
  • Outlining new initiatives to strengthen communities across the globe.

Guiding Principles

Planet

  • Reduce our planet footprint
  • Maintain high production and supply chain standards
  • Decrease waste through operational efficiencies

Society

  • Empower our team members
  • Enhance the consumer experience
  • Strengthen communities across the globe
  • Support worker welfare in our operations and supply chain
Planet

We strive to make positive contributions through the responsible use of natural resources.

Our Environmental and Energy Policy Statement guides our regulatory compliance, environmental conservation and efficiency improvement efforts. By maintaining robust sourcing policies and animal welfare practices, we strive to enhance supply chain sustainability and promote the wellbeing of animals.

Guiding Principles Initiatives 2024 Progress & Highlights
Reduce our planet footprint Demonstrate climate leadership by focusing on our target to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions 50% by 2030. Hormel Foods also commits to reduce absolute Scope 3 GHG emissions 27.5% within the same timeframe.1 In 2024, our solar and wind projects secured enough renewable energy certificates (RECs) to cover approximately 92% of our global purchased electricity, which reduced our market-based Scope 2 emissions. We implemented projects in our manufacturing facilities that reduced more than 9,750 metric tons of GHG emissions.
Reduce our planet footprint Support sustainable agriculture initiatives that promote soil health, encourage biodiversity and protect watersheds within our supply chain. Applegate has set a goal to transition all of the beef used in both their APPLEGATE ORGANICS​®​​ The Great Organic Uncured Beef Hot Dog and APPLEGATE NATURALS​®​​ Beef Hot Dog products to be sourced from third-party certified regenerative farms by the end of calendar year 2025. Of the total beef volume purchased by Applegate in 2024, 32% was from farms certified to regenerative agriculture standards.2
Maintain high production and supply chain standards Provide leadership in water management by implementing projects that optimize our water efficiency and positively impact associated water- and wastewater-management risks In 2024, we implemented a variety of projects in our operations that saved more than 73 million gallons of water. Additionally, we achieved a 5.5% reduction in water use from the previous year.
Maintain high production and supply chain standards Focus on packaging improvement efforts through research, innovation, on-package or enhanced digital communication tools, and optimizing package weight and shipping efficiencies. Our packaging team’s initiatives resulted in more than 1 million pounds of material savings in 2024.3
Maintain high production and supply chain standards Maintain high standards for animal care and handling in our supply chain.4

Subgoals:

  • Focus on animal health and well-being outcomes as directed by the company’s welfare initiatives, and validated by internal and external animal care audits.
  • Leverage emerging technology to positively impact animal health.
  • Continue judicious use of antibiotics under veterinarian care and directives.

 We continued to adhere to our animal care standards by strengthening our trainings, audits and veterinary oversight and investing in new technology to continue to improve animal welfare. We conducted more than 2,600 hog, turkey, beef and chicken audits to ensure compliance with our animal care standards.5
Decrease waste through operational efficiencies Work toward zero food waste in our operations. Our teams continued executing programs that focus on food donation and manufacturing excellence that reduce food waste within our manufacturing footprint and beyond.​
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1 In 2023, we had our near-term GHG reduction targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

2 Applegate livestock suppliers who make a regenerative claim must have a third-party audit completed by an approved certifying organization, such as Regenerative Organic Alliance, Land to Market Ecological Outcome Verification™ or Greenham Certified Regenerative endorsed by Certified Humane®, to ensure farmland is verified for implemented regenerative practices and tracked ecological outcomes.

3 Savings are based on an annual rolling average and include all projects captured by the corporate packaging development group.

4 Our animal welfare principles are designed to implement the Five Freedoms of Animal Welfare formalized by the UK Animal Welfare Committee (formerly the Farm Animal Welfare Committee). For more information about our animal welfare principles, please refer to the Animal Care section of this report and our Animal Stewardship Policy.

5 Includes internal and external audits for hog and turkey and Applegate internal audits for beef and chicken.

6 Savings are based on an annual rolling average and include all projects captured by the corporate packaging development group.

Society

Our team members, supply chain partners and communities are the cornerstone of our successes and help fulfill our purpose of Inspired People. Inspired Food™

Our inspired team members are passionate about producing some of the most trusted and well-known food products in the world, ensuring they are safe and delicious. Our multifaceted global supply chain includes suppliers of food ingredients, packaging materials, transportation and more. By maintaining strong relationships with our suppliers and deploying risk management programs, we strive to build a sustainable future for the global food system and ensure that our vendors share our values and comply with our standards of ethical business behaviors.

Guiding Principles Initiatives 2024 Progress & Highlights
Empower team members Foster belonging for everyone, where people feel respected and valued, by empowering them with opportunities, equitable treatment and a voice to make Hormel Foods better for all. Twice per year, we survey our team members to provide them with an opportunity to share their voice. In 2024, we saw improvements in both our total company Engagement and Belonging scores. Engagement in our year-ending survey grew three points to 73, which is line our industry benchmark. Belonging also improved by three points to a year-end score of 72.
Empower team members Provide the opportunity of a free two-year college education for all our team members’ dependent high school graduates. As part of our Inspired Pathways scholarship program, we provided 179 dependents of team members with access to a free two-year college education.7
Enhance the consumer experience Continue to offer high-quality, safe and convenient products that meet a wide range of consumer preferences and needs. In 2024, we launched more than 540 new Retail, Foodservice and International items to continue to meet consumer preferences and needs.8
Enhance the consumer experience Continue efforts to reduce added sugars and sodium in our products and review our items for opportunities to shorten ingredients lists, prioritizing ingredients that are familiar to consumers. We continued to focus our efforts on reducing added sugars and sodium in our products throughout the year, including the launch of no-sugar-added SKIPPY® ​ products and PLANTERS®​ ​nut products with zero added sugar.
Strengthen communities across the globe Support our communities by investing in well-being through access to education and nutritious foods. We continued our commitment to boosting worldwide food access by donating approximately 7.6 million pounds of food. Additionally, we launched the Hometown Food Security Project mobile app and initiated a mobile pantry in our hometown of Austin, Minnesota.
Support worker welfare in our operations and supply chain Promote and protect worker safety and human rights within our operations and our supply chain. We proudly achieved the best safety rates in our company history. In 2024, we reached a recordable incident rate of 1.8 per 100 full-time team members, representing an 18% reduction compared to the prior year.
Support worker welfare in our operations and supply chain Increase purchasing spend annually with small businesses through inclusive procurement practices that engage a broad range of suppliers.9 In 2024, we spent over $1 billion with small businesses, which represents approximately 18% of our suppliers.
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7 Includes calendar year 2024 Inspired Pathways scholarships plus students who received Inspired Pathways counseling and support to obtain full-ride scholarships to their college or university.

8 The number of items launched includes MegaMex Foods products.

9 In accordance with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) definition of small business.

UN Sustainable Development Goals

Aligned with the UN SDGs, our efforts contribute to global initiatives — from ending hunger to combating climate change.

To read about the our momentum, initiatives and philosophy, explore the full Global Impact Report.
Report