To select content, we assessed key topics in our industry and engaged with stakeholders to understand their concerns, questions and feedback. This dialogue gives us a picture of future topics of interest to our stakeholder groups, helps us understand the issues to anticipate and/or address, and outlines the questions we can help answer. We engage with stakeholders who have an active role or stake in our business, as well as those who help us improve as a company and are looking to engage in constructive dialogue.
In determining the information to report, we conducted a process to identify topics based on the interest of our stakeholders — a group that includes employees, customers, consumers, investors, suppliers, nongovernmental organizations, government agencies and communities.
The analysis included interviews, socially responsible investor (SRI) inquiries/questionnaires, customer questionnaires, consumer feedback, meetings, conferences and media coverage. From there, we prioritized the topics based on their importance to the business.
View the key topics assessment section for the results of our analysis.
How Hormel Foods Engages
Stakeholder Interests
How We Respond To Their Interests
Ongoing Results Of Engagement
- Annual performance reviews
- Annual town hall meetings with the CEO and executives at various plants
- Departmental meetings (ongoing)
- Engagement surveys (ongoing)
- Intranet (daily)
- Monthly location-specific newsletters, weekly companywide newsletter and ongoing email updates
- Ongoing recruitment events (college campuses, job fairs)
- Social media (daily)
- Community impacts
- Distribution of profits
- Employee health and wellness
- Employee recruitment and retention
- Environmental sustainability
- Inclusion and diversity
- Occupational health and safety
- Philanthropy
- Charitable giving
- Employee benefits
- Through our corporate responsibility goals and progress
- Inclusion and diversity initiatives and employee resource groups
- Safety program and goals
- Community support and retiree engagement and involvement
- Improved safety
- Employee engagement and retention
Customers
How Hormel Foods Engages
Stakeholder Interests
How We Respond To Their Interests
Ongoing Results Of Engagement
- Conferences (ongoing)
- Facility and farm tours (ongoing)
- One-on-one meetings (ongoing)
- Questionnaires (ongoing)
- Sales meetings (ongoing)
- Animal care and antibiotic stewardship
- Environmental sustainability
- Food access and affordability
- Food safety and quality
- Responsible marketing
- Responsible sourcing and supply chain management
- Safe packaging
- Animal care standards and antibiotic stewardship efforts
- Connect customers with internal experts
- Through our corporate responsibility goals and progress
- Integrate customer feedback into product development
- Respond to questionnaires and inquiries
- Robust food safety program and training
- Demonstration of our best practices
- Development of customer relationships
- Identification of risks and opportunities
- Increased understanding of the business and practices
Suppliers
How Hormel Foods Engages
Stakeholder Interests
How We Respond To Their Interests
Ongoing Results Of Engagement
- One-on-one meetings (ongoing)
- Supplier site surveys and audits (ongoing)
- Supplier site tours (ongoing)
- Supplier Quality Management System (ongoing)
- Animal care and antibiotic stewardship
- Farmer livelihoods
- Responsible sourcing and supply chain management
- Sustainable agriculture
- Animal care standards and antibiotic stewardship efforts
- Participate in ongoing dialogue
- Through our corporate responsibility goals and progress
- Recognize top suppliers through annual awards
- Requirements outlined in our Supplier Code of Conduct
- Increased accountability
- Improvement of supplier relationships
- Improvement of supply base
- Improvement of quality from suppliers
Investors/Analysts
How Hormel Foods Engages
Stakeholder Interests
How We Respond To Their Interests
Ongoing Results Of Engagement
- One-on-one meetings (ongoing)
- Rankings/questionnaires (annually)
- Conferences (ongoing)
- Animal care and antibiotic stewardship
- Corporate responsibility governance
- Environmental sustainability
- Human rights
- Sustainable agriculture
- Animal care standards and antibiotic stewardship efforts
- Development of company policies
- Through our corporate responsibility goals and progress
- Respond to questionnaires/inquiries
- Verify data from analysts compiling rankings and indices
- Benchmark data
- Correct information
- Feedback for future initiatives
Consumers
How Hormel Foods Engages
Stakeholder Interests
How We Respond To Their Interests
Ongoing Results Of Engagement
- Consumer hotline (daily)
- Consumer research (ongoing)
- Social media (daily)
- Websites (daily)
- Animal care and antibiotic stewardship
- Consumer education and information
- Consumer health and safety
- Environmental sustainability
- Food access and affordability
- Food safety and quality
- GMOs
- Nutrition and wellness
- Safe packaging
- Animal care standards and antibiotic stewardship efforts
- Answer questions through hotline and social media channels
- Through our corporate responsibility goals and progress
- Promote more proactive information and take suggestions
- Robust food safety program and training
- Sodium reduction and clean-label initiative efforts
- Use insights for new product development
- Better understanding of our consumers’ concerns and interests to help provide the best products on the market
- Correct information
- Helpful suggestions for how to improve our business/products
- Improved consumer loyalty
Government
How Hormel Foods Engages
Stakeholder Interests
How We Respond To Their Interests
Ongoing Results Of Engagement
- Engagement in associations and subcommittees (ongoing)
- One-on-one meetings with members of Congress and regulatory agencies (ongoing)
- Public forums via panels (ongoing)
- Plant tours for elected officials (ongoing)
- Reports and regulatory filings (ongoing)
- Animal care and antibiotic stewardship
- Community impacts
- Environmental sustainability
- Food safety and quality
- Lobbying disclosure and political contributions
- Animal care standards and antibiotic stewardship efforts
- Engage in ongoing dialogue about these issues
- Through our corporate responsibility goals and progress
- Robust food safety program and training
- Updates to management about key issues
- Better understanding of our practices and processes
- Communication of our culture, commitment to communities and the impact we have on the industry and in communities
- Positive business policies
Nongovernmental Organizations
How Hormel Foods Engages
Stakeholder Interests
How We Respond To Their Interests
Ongoing Results Of Engagement
- Meetings (ongoing)
- Response to questions/concerns (ongoing)
- Questionnaires/surveys
- Animal care and antibiotic stewardship
- Business ethics
- Community impacts
- Corporate responsibility governance
- Distribution of profits
- Environmental sustainability
- Food relief
- Nutrition and wellness
- Human rights
- Lobbying disclosure and political contributions
- Philanthropy
- Responsible sourcing and supply chain management
- Stakeholder engagement
- Sustainable agriculture
- Transparency and reporting
- Animal care standards and antibiotic stewardship efforts
- Charitable giving
- Consider topics raised in our reporting and operating practices
- Developed formal hunger and community giving strategy
- Development of company policies
- Through our corporate responsibility goals and progress
- Maintain ongoing dialogue to incorporate a variety of changes to business practices and explain business practices
- Identification of risks to the business and larger issues in the industry
- Improved two-way conversation about the industry and business practices
Communities
How Hormel Foods Engages
Stakeholder Interests
How We Respond To Their Interests
Ongoing Results Of Engagement
- Charitable giving (ongoing)
- Community events (ongoing)
- Local media relations (ongoing)
- Representation and participation in community organizations (ongoing)
- Sponsorships (ongoing)
- Volunteer efforts (ongoing)
- Community impacts
- Distribution of profits
- Environmental sustainability
- Employee recruitment and retention
- Food relief
- Philanthropy
- Sustainable agriculture
- Charitable giving
- Consider topics raised in our reporting and operating practices
- Developed formal hunger and community giving strategy
- Through our corporate responsibility goals and progress
- Hold meetings to discuss local concerns
- Invest in community infrastructure
- Employee engagement
- Large number of community groups engaged
- Positive community relations
- Positive corporate reputation