hormel foods

Fortune Staff

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Hormel Foods

What would you say that it takes to be a great leader? And I'm not talking about a talented manager or a gifted entrepreneur, but a great leader. To me, the ultimate test of leadership really is anyone following you. I mean, you might have a sense you want to be a leader. You might have a direction that you think everybody should charge. But you have to look over your shoulder once in a while and then see, okay, is this Is this really making sense to folks? I think communication is clearly an important element of leadership so that everyone can be kind of on the same page or what are we trying to accomplish and how are we doing as a team. How do you spot a leader? Are there certain questions or certain habits that you can see in somebody and you say, that person is going to be a leader. One of the things I really am interested in and understand is not do you want a position, but more what do you wanna do in the position? Sometimes I wish we'd asked our elected officials that question a little bit more often. They're always kind of, all right, I'm running for President, I'm running for whatever, and to me its much more interesting. Less about the campaign and more, okay, so let's say your it, well what are you going to do? and what's your tell tell sign that you can see to say this person has that potential. There has to be a certain level of drive so I suppose there is some personal ambition involved in creating that drive But if it becomes too overwhelming I think at least in our organization, I think that ends up scaring people off and making it seem too much about them, and not enough about the team. You've been at Hormel for almost 30 years and you've been CEO almost a decade. Yes. What do you think has been the key to your success as a leader? I've had people say that they appreciate that I'm approachable. It's a lean culture, we're in a small town in Austin, Minnesota. My kids go to school with everyone else's kids in town, so i think the notion that You're accessible and approachable has been important for me at least in the role I've had with the company. In your long career, I'm sure you've had a lot of people giving you advice, many mentors. What's the best advice you've ever gotten? I received advice from Joel Johnson, who is my predecessor as CEO, when I took the job. He said, think gin rummy and not draw poker. So think about A card game where you get a card. Maybe you keep that card, maybe you discard it. You make gradual changes. Where as draw poker is you get dealt five cards, you maybe toss four of them in and you want a whole new hand. I think a lot of times we're urged to act quickly. There's a lot of talk about the first 100 days of Whether it's a president's administration or a new business leader and again I think if you're in a situation where it's distress maybe you have to work that quickly. Fortunately with Hormel we've had a long heritage of success. And so I think the advice was effective. Don't be in such a rush to make hasty decisions. You're going to have time to put your imprint on the business and have your new team move things in a certain direction. And its obviously worked for you. Well so far so good. [ LAUGH ]

What is the ultimate test of leadership?

Leadership

Jeffrey M. Ettinger on being a great leader.

Hormel Foods CEO: What is the ultimate test of leadership?

Hormel Foods CEO Jeffrey M. Ettinger evaluates what it means to be a great leader.

How would you describe the health of the economy right now ?>> I would say it's improving but with occasional sputtering. I mean it seems like we make some progress on some of the measures and then a quarter comes out or an announcement comes out that looks less favorable. But overall, when I look at it over the last couple of years. I think it's heading in the right direction, at least in the US. Well, you have a real insight into how consumers feel, and how much they are willing to spend. But what is your take on the consumer? I think the consumer right now is gaining some confidence, but I think some more time needs to go by in that regard. We certainly have seen some fairly celebrated Wage increase announcement by some major employers in the country. The fact that gasoline prices have come down I think has helped the average consumer to address them trying to stretch their weekly dollar. What challenges are you facing at Hormel in this economic environment? Well our biggest challenge right now is kind of less general economics and more a specific incident relating to our turkey. Of business. We've had a challenge with avian influenza that's swept through the upper Midwest. Our team is certainly actively collaborating with the government to kind of address that issue, but it does look like it's gonna reduce supplies for us in the second half of the year fairly significantly, in the 15 percent range. As you know, there has been a lot of anxiety about rising interest rates and what the Federal Reserve is gonna do on this area. As rates do increase, what impact will that have on your business? You know as long as they're gradual and historically at a fairly moderate level I really don't see them having a significant impact. I harken back to the beginning of my career when interest rates were in the teens. and when we were buying our first home and it was at that kind of level and so these levels are so low today when people say " okay they can go up a point or two points, I mean they're still, in the grand scheme of things, very affordable compared to what they have been. Would there be any impact, perhaps, on your hiring plan? You know, we've been steadily adding employment over the years. We've moved from about, say, about 10, 000 employees to over 20, 000 in the last ten to fifteen years. Employment at additions are related for us more to the demand for the products that ultimately we're trying to be a part of more and more meals for consumers We've been able to increase that over time and as long as we have the demand from our consumers for our items we'll certainly have jobs then to be able to produce those products.

Jeffrey Ettinger talks with Fortune's Susie Gharib about today's economy and how it affects their business.

Hormel CEO: Interest rate hikes will not have a significant impact

Hormel CEO: Interest rate hikes won't have big impact

 So Jeff, Hormel is known as Spam in the Can. It's one of your core products. But the company has really expanded into a whole lot of other areas. Tell us a little bit more about what's in the cover. Certainly we're still known as Hormel maker of spam and for famous items such as Cure 81 hams and Hormel chili. But in recent years, we've had new product innovations, such as our Hormel Natural Choice All Natural Luncheon Meats or our REV Snack Wraps. And also in the area of acquisitions, we really tried to expand the portfolio, such items as Holy Guacamole and Muscle Milk and Skippy Peanut Butter. Well, you mentioned these healthier options. I mean, consumers are much more oriented to healthy eating, gluten free, less processed food. How are you adapting to that change? We're trying to offer more products that fit within a health and wellness orientation for consumers who are looking to enhance their nutritional delivery. Again, some of the acquisitions we've made, Muscle Milk would be one-- and Holy Guacamole-- that really kind of fit that profile. You talk about wellness, and people are very focused on health and wellness. They're reading the nutrition labels. Are you changing the ingredients that going into your products? So one great example I can give you would be our Hormel Always Tender Pork Tenderloins, great barbecue item for the summers. It's a portfolio item we've had for 15 or 20 years. But on the advice of consumers, it kind of looked and said, is there a way we can simplify this label? So we have been able to take out some of the chemical sounding ingredients, make it much more simple, actually lower the sodium while we're at it. And the consumers are really enjoying the new items. Hormel is basically all US-based. But you do have some business in Asia. And now you're making a big push into China. Tell us what the strategy is there. We've been gradually growing the business, clearly with a meat focus initially, though the Skippy acquisition also came with a plant in China. What we announced very recently was the expansion of a new processed meats facility that we're building just outside of Shanghai. That facility should be ready to go here in 2016 and should support the further growth we expect in that market. What are you hoping to accomplish in China? I think we can provide Western quality items, but that have been modified to local tastes. We utilize an innovation center based right in Shanghai with chefs that are hired within the local market. And so hopefully we're providing kind of a bridge between maybe the technological and quality side that the West has, but delivering flavors that consumers are familiar with. 

How the makers of Spam in the can are going healthy

CEO of Hormel Foods discusses healthier products.

How the makers of Spam are going healthy

Jeffrey Ettinger, CEO of Hormel Foods, discusses his company's shift towards healthier products with Fortune's Susie Gharib.

Year	Revenues ($M)	Profits ($M)	Assets ($M)	Total Stockholder Equity ($M)
2021	$9,608.51.2%	$908.1-7.2%	$9,908.3	$6,425.5
2020	$9,497.3-0.5%	$978.8-3.3%	$8,109	$5,921.5
2019	$9,545.74.1%	$1,012.119.5%	$8,142.3	$5,600.8
2018	$9,167.5-3.7%	$846.7-4.9%	$6,975.9	$4,935.9
2017	$9,5232.8%	$890.129.7%	$6,370	$4,448

Hormel Foods

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