AUSTIN, Minn.- The editors and writers for Barron’s have selected Jeffrey M. Ettinger, CEO and chairman of the board of Hormel Foods Corp. as one of the best CEOs in the world. Barron’s bases their selections on strong leadership over a lengthy period.
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| Jeffrey M. Ettinger, CEO and chairman at Hormel Foods |
Hormel Foods currently sits on a list of top performers on the S&P 500 for the last 12 months, announced the 50th consecutive increase to its stock’s dividend and its seventh consecutive year of record earnings.
Hormel Foods appointed Ettinger CEO in 2005. Since then, he’s grown and diversified Hormel by expanding the company’s product portfolio through acquisitions and innovations that meet the needs of changing consumer trends.
From 2013 to 2015, Hormel Foods has acquired Skippy peanut butter brand, sports nutrition company, CytoSport, and the number one brand in the natural and organic value-added prepared meats category, Applegate Farms, LLC.
“Four or five years ago, we started thinking about what kinds of products we were missing. We wanted to become more global, to expand our offerings to a more multicultural mix of items, and offer consumers more healthy, holistic foods,” Ettinger said in an interview with Barron’s.
With Ettinger as CEO, Hormel has furthered its diversity and inclusion initiatives by developing employee resource groups. It’s also developed and donated over 11 million cans of the shelf stable, vitamin and mineral fortified poultry product SPAMMY, to prevent childhood malnutrition in Guatemala.
