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 Boundary Protocol.
Unless otherwise noted, the report does not include MegaMex Foods (less than 50 percent operational and financial control), Fresherized Foods (acquisition of a joint venture), Okinawa Hormel Ltd. (less than 50 percent operational and financial control) and Purefoods – Hormel Company (less than 50 percent operational and financial control).
The following chart explains exceptions to this or additional information about what parts of the company are or are not included in this report, by section.
| Category | Exceptions |
| No. of employees, countries where products are sold, brands that held the No. 1 or No. 2 market share and manufacturing facilities | Includes all |
| Audits of ingredient suppliers | Does not include Applegate |
| Diverse businesses | Does not include international and Applegate, and only includes applicable vendor categories |
| New vendors | Includes all active suppliers in the company’s tracking system |
| Financial information | As reported and defined in the company’s Annual Report |
| Lobbying and political action committee | Does not include Applegate |
| Category | Exceptions |
| Environment | Includes U.S. manufacturing locations and co-pack and joint venture locations with operational control |
| Logistics | Does not include Applegate, Justin’s and international |
| Packaging projects and material savings | Includes all projects and savings captured by the corporate R&D packaging development group |
| Product packaging that is recyclable and/or made from recycled materials | Includes strategic suppliers in the company’s tracking system |
| Unique packaging items | Includes all packaging items in the company’s tracking system |
| Category | Exceptions |
| Clean-label initiative projects | Includes all projects captured through our corporate tracking systems; however, all projects may not be captured |
| Partially hydrogenated oils | Includes products captured through our corporate tracking systems; however, all products may not be captured |
| Sugar amounts | Includes products captured through our corporate tracking systems; however, all products may not be captured |
| Sodium reduction | Only includes brands listed, which include brands from Hormel Foods and MegaMex Foods |
| Category | Exceptions |
| People | Data (employment type, gender and tenure) and collective bargaining does not include international |
| Safety and safety training | Does not include Applegate, Justin’s, international and CytoSport |
| Employee engagement survey | Does not include Applegate, CytoSport, Jennie-O Turkey Store, union plant employees at the Austin Plant and Fremont Plant, and international plant employees |
| Training | Includes training captured by our corporate learning and development department (may not include everything); does not include international |