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Hormel Foods has already made a three-year commitment to deliver 1 million cans of Spammy to in-need families in Guatemala through partners Food For The Poor and Caritas Arquidiocesana in 2011. Guatemala was selected because its poverty rate is more than 50% and the chronic malnutrition rate is the highest in the Western hemisphere. Spammy has already been distributed in Guatemala for about 18 months to family centers and orphanages. The company also worked with Food For The Poor and donated more than 100,000 cans of Spammy to Haiti after the January 2010 earthquake.
Jeffrey Ettinger, Hormel chairman of the board, president and CEO, explained the company wanted to create a product high in protein to help serve malnourished and poverty-stricken communities worldwide. “Our company has years of experience in creating shelf-stable proteins, so we employed our expertise to create this new product,” he added.
Food For The Poor is a relief and development organization that raises funds and provides direct relief assistance to the poor in Latin America and the Caribbean, and Caritas Arquidiocesana is a charity committed to combating poverty. Two veteran suppliers of Hormel Foods, Silgan Containers and Smyth Companies, are donating all of the cans and labels for Spammy.
Hormel Foods and Food For The Poor created a website (www.hormelfoods.com/responsibility/hunger) so individuals can contribute to the Spammy program. All donations made through the website will go directly and fully to Food For The Poor to purchase Spammy fortified turkey spread at cost from Hormel Foods. The product then will be shipped by Food For The Poor to Guatemala and distributed at the orphanages, day care centers, nutritional centers and family centers within the Caritas Arquidiocesana network.
