Hormel Inc.`s Jeffrey Ettinger Wins 2010 Knowlton Award

CHICAGO--(Business Wire)--
As leader of a company that sets the standard for non-stop product innovation,
Jeffrey Ettinger, CEO of Hormel Foods Inc., has been named the 2010 Richard L.
Knowlton Innovation Award honoree by Meatingplace, the red meat processing
industry`s leading business information source.

In a recessionary year that`s sent many processors scrambling for profits,
Hormel has consistently beaten analysts` expectations. The company`s finances
have been bolstered by the solid performances of Spam, Dinty Moore stew and
Hormel chili. But the company also has kept up a steady stream of new product
introductions and new twists on existing offerings. Just this year it debuted
Chi-Chi's Fiesta Plates shelf-stable meals, and expanded its Always Tender
product portfolio to include three new flavors.

The company also has stepped up - not back - its consumer marketing efforts
during the downturn. In rapid succession just this past summer, Hormel launched
a joint venture with a Mexican company to market and distribute its Mexican
meals, began offering coupons on its Web site, and created a shopping guide
aimed at helping consumers navigate the supermarket to find healthful,
high-quality foods that they can afford.

Ettinger, a lawyer by training, has been an executive of the company for 20
years, and Hormel`s CEO since the beginning of 2006. In three years, he has
presided over a 17.5 percent increase in revenues for the $6.7 billion consumer
foods giant.

"Hormel continues to set the gold standard for developing and marketing
successful value-added meat products," said Mark Lefens, editor-in-chief of
Meatingplace and president of parent-company Marketing & Technology Group.
"That`s why it`s particularly significant that Jeff Ettinger shares an award
that`s named after one of Hormel`s most storied leaders, Richard L. Knowlton."

Beyond his work at Hormel, Ettinger, 51, serves on the boards of the Ordway
Center for the Performing Arts, Grocery Manufacturers of America, The Hormel
Foundation, Austin Medical Center Foundation and the Minnesota Business
Partnership. He also is a member of the American Meat Institute executive
committee and is on the organization`s board of directors.

Meatingplace will present the 2010 Knowlton Award to Ettinger in October, during
AMI`s biannual Worldwide Food Expo, in Chicago.

Previous Knowlton Award honorees include:

* 2009: Mike Satzow, CEO, North Country Smokehouse
* 2008: David Wood, chairman, Beef Division, Harris Ranch
* 2007: Phil Clemens, chairman and CEO, Hatfield Quality Meats
* 2006: Bill Rupp, president, Cargill Meat Solutions' Beef Division
* 2005: Joel Johnson, chairman and CEO, Hormel Foods Corp.
* 2004: Jim Stonehocker, COO, Odom's Tennessee Pride
* 2003: Henry Davis, president, Greater Omaha Packing Co.
* 2002: Temple Grandin, assistant professor, Colorado State University
* 2001: Bernie Hansen, president, Flint Hills Foods
* 2000: Justin Segel, CEO, Emmpak Foods

Meatingplace, published monthly, is a part of Marketing & Technology Group's
rich portfolio of business-to-business media communities serving the meat and
poultry processing and foodservice industries. The company's magazine properties
include Meatingplace, Poultry and Plate; and industry Web sites
www.meatingplace.com, www.carnetec.com and www.plateonline.com.

for Meatingplace
Laurie Hachmeister
312-274-2203

Copyright Business Wire 2009