Encyclopedia
Hormel Foods Corporation is a food company based in southeastern
Minnesota , perhaps best known as the producer of Spam luncheon meat. The company was founded as
George A. Hormel & Company in
Austin, Minnesota by George A. Hormel in 1891. The company changed its name to
Hormel Foods Corporation 102 years later in 1993. Hormel sells food under the Jennie-O,
Dinty Moore,
Stagg, and
Carapelli brands, as well as under its own name.
History
19th century
George A. Hormel worked in a
Chicago slaughterhouse before becoming a traveling
wool and hide buyer. His travels took him to Austin and he decided to settle there, borrow $500, and open a
meat business. Hormel handled the production side of the business and his partner, Albert Friedrich, handled the
retail side. The two dissolved their partnership in 1891 so that Hormel could start a complete meat packing operation on his own. He opened
George A. Hormel & Co. in the northeast part of Austin in an old creamery building on the Cedar River. To make ends meet in those early days, Hormel continued to trade in hides, eggs, wool, and
poultry. By the end of 1891 Hormel employed six men and had slaughtered and sold 610 head of
livestock. By 1893, the increased use of
refrigerator cars had allowed many large meat packers to force smaller business under. George's brothers Herman and John joined the business that same year and together they processed 1,532
hogs, enough to stay in business. The remaining members of the Hormel family moved to Austin in 1895 and joined the growing business. George turned to full-time management in 1899 turned his focus on increasing production.
1900s
In 1901, the plant was expanded and the business was incorporated. The first directors were A.L. Eberhart and the four Hormel brothers: George, Herman, John and Ben. In 1903 George decided to add a three-
story hog-kill, a two-story beef kill, an annex, an
engine room, a
machine shop and a casing production department. The name
Dairy Brand was register with the
U.S. Patent Office in 1903. In the first decade of the 20th century
distribution centers were opened in
St. Paul,
Minneapolis,
Duluth,
San Antonio,
Dallas,
Chicago,
Atlanta, and
Birmingham. George Hormel visited
England in 1905 and started exporting products soon after.
1910s
By 1910, Hormel products were routinely appearing in national
magazines. That same year the company developed a procedure to
recycle its waste water by daily
evaporating up to 9,000 gallons of water, leaving a syrupy liquid which was dried to produce a commercial
fertilizer. In 1915 Hormel began selling dry
sausages under the names of
Cedar Cervelat,
Holsteiner and
Noxall Salami. That same year Hormel bought
Alderson's Mill and began selling
Hormel Peerelss Minnesota flour nationwide. Hormel joined the
World War I effort, George's son Jay C. went into military service and by the end of the war, exports accounted for 33% of the company's yearly volume.
1920s
In 1926, the company introduced
Hormel Flavor-Sealed Ham, America's first
canned ham and it added
chicken to its line in 1928. Jay C. Hormel became company president in 1929 and that same year the plant was expanded again to include eight new structures and the main
office was tripled in size. In the late-1920s and early-1930s sales branches opened up in
Houston, Beaumont,
Chattanooga,
New Orleans,
Baton Rouge,
Newark,
Los Angeles,
Vicksburg, and Nuevo Laredo .
1930s
In 1931, Jay C. instituted the Annual Wage Plan: under this plan,
employees were paid weekly and they were guaranteed 52 weeks' notice before termination of employment. He also introduced incentive pay, profit sharing and pension plans to the company. Later that year a slaughtering plant was constructed in
Mitchell, South Dakota and in 1933, a
cattle slaughtering plant was finished in Austin.
Dinty Moore beef
stew was introduced in 1935 and Hormel
Chili and Spam soon followed in 1936 and 1937 respectively. In 1938, Jay C. Hormel introduced the "Joint Savings Plan" which allowed employees to share in the proceeds of the company. By the late-1930s, full-page,
four color ads were routinely appearing in the
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,
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and
Woman's Home Companion. Hormel ads also were featured on the radio program
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.
The 1930s also saw the establishment of the Hormel & Co. refrigerator car line, with an initial roster of 125 units.
1940s
After reaching sales of $75 million in 1941, George and Jay established
The Hormel Foundation to provide perpetual independence of the company, act as trustees of the family trusts and to start and fund the
Hormel Institute, a research unit at the
University of Minnesota. Hormel's production increased to aid in
World War II and 65% of its products were purchased by the
U.S. Government by 1945. Founder George A. Hormel died in 1946 in
California where he had lived in retirement. He is buried in Austin's
Oakwood Cemetery. Jay C. then became chairman of the board, H.H Corey became president, and R.F. Gray became vice-president. Hormel acquired the
Fremont Packing Company in 1947.
1950s
In 1953, it acquired the Tobin Packing Company of Fort Dodge. Also in 1953, distribution centers were opened in
San Francisco,
Seattle and Beaumont and the company's first non-continental plant opened in
Honolulu. Jay C. Hormel died on August 30, 1954, and Corey was named chairman of the board and R.F. Gray was elected president the following year. During Gray's tenure as president the company greatly expanded its international business through arrangements with companies in
Ireland,
England,
Canada and
Venezuela. In 1959, Hormel was the first meatpacker to receive the Seal of Approval of the American Humane Society for its practice of
anesthetizing animals before slaughter.
1960s
Little Sizzlers sausages were introduced in 1961 and
Cure 81 hams were introduced in 1963. In 1962, Hormel constructed a 75,000 sq ft sausage manufacturing building in Austin and discontinued the slaughter of
calves and
lambs. Also in 1963, Hormel acquired the Queen City Packing Company plant in
Springfield, Missouri and the Ottawa Meat Packing Company plant in
Miami, Oklahoma. New plants were also constructed in Chattanooga and
Los Angeles and the plants in
Charlotte,
Winston-Salem,
Fresno and
Houston were remodeled or expanded. In 1964, the Hormel Corporate Offices were opened just to the north of
Interstate 90 in Austin. Gray replaced Corey as chairman of the board upon the latter's
retirement in 1965, and M.B Thompson became president. During Thompson tenure a dry sausage plant was built in
Algona and distribution centers were built in
San Antonio,
New Orleans and Atlanta. In 1967, the Hormel Foundation, in cooperation with the National Merit Scholarship Program, started a college scholarship program for the children of Hormel employees. Partial scholarships were awarded through this program on the basis of the
student's test scores, academic records, financial need, and school and community involvement. A separate building to house the growing research and development department was built northwest of the corporate office in Austin in 1968. In 1969, Gray resigned from the company and Thompson replaced him as chairman and I.J. Holton was named president. That same year, a distribution center was opened in Atlanta.
1970s
In 1970, a distribution plant was built in
Albany, Georgia and a dry sausage plant was built in Algona. In 1972, Holton became CEO. In 1971, meat processing facilities
and distribution centers were opened in both Dallas and
Seattle. That same year the company introduced its
Matching Gifts program in which it offered to match the donation made by any employee to any accredited
college or
university. In 1972, distribution centers were opened in
Orlando and
Shreveport and a food service facility was built in
Oklahoma City. A
grocery products plant was opened in
Beloit in 1973. A frozen foods plant was opened in
Fort Worth in 1974. A distribution plant was opened in
Houston in 1975. In 1976, slaughtering and processing plant was opened in
Ottumwa, a dry sausage plant was opened in
Knoxville, Iowa and a grocery products
canning facility was acquired in
Stockton. A distribution plant was built in
Fresno in 1978. A gelatin plant was opened in
Davenport in 1979. That same year Richard Knowlton was elected as president, the first Austinian to hold that post since Jay C. Hormel.
1980s
Holton continued as CEO until 1981 and then this duty was also passed to Knowlton. The construction of the current Austin plant began in 1980, and the Knoxville and Ottumwa plants were expanded. The plants in Beloit, Los Angeles and Ottumwa were renovated and expanded. The new Austin plant opened in 1982. Knowlton also became chairman of the board in 1984, while continuing to hold the titles of president and chairman of the board.
1985 strike
In 1985, workers at Hormel went on the Austin Hormel Strike in Austin, Minnesota at the Hormel headquarters. Frustrated by low wages and dangerous conditions, they started one of the largest strikes of the 1980s. The strike began in August of 1985, with the sanction of the International level of the Union, P-9. The local chapter of the
United Food and Commercial Workers Union P-9 led the strike, but was not supported by their parent
union. After six months, a significant number of replacement workers crossed the picket line prompting
riots in Austin. Wayne P. Goodnature was Sheriff at the time. In January 21, 1986, the
Governor of Minnesota,
Rudy Perpich, called in the
National Guard to protect the replacement workers . This unpopular move brought on protests against the governor and Governor Perpich soon withdrew the National Guard from Austin. The action had more effect on the national union which ousted the local P-9 and the strike was ended in June 1986, making the length of the strike 10 months. Over 700 of the workers did not return to their jobs, refusing to cross the picket line as some had chosen to do. Ultimately, however, the company did succeed in hiring new workers at lower wages. It is still disputed as to who actually made the original National Guard request. The strike was chronicled in the film "
American Dream", which won the
Academy Award for best
documentary in 1990. A song, entitled
"P-9" was written by
Dave Pirner of the
Minneapolis band Soul Asylum about the strike. The song can be found on their 1988 album, Clam Dip & Other Delights.
References
- Cooper, Jake. Lessons of the P-9 Strike. Socialist Action Books. 298 Valencia St., San Francisco CA 94103.
- Mill on the Willow: A History of Mower County, Minnesota by various authors. Library of Congress No. 84-062356
- White, John H. The Great Yellow Fleet. Golden West Books, San Marino, California. ISBN 0-87095-091-6
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See also
External links
- official website
- 2003 interview with two former Hormel strikers.
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