AUSTIN, Minn. (Business Wire) -- Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL) recently awarded 75 suppliers with a 2011 Spirit of Excellence Award for their roles in the company's continuous improvement process throughout the last year. These suppliers are from a variety of areas including contractors, pork procurement, provisions, ingredients, packaging and transportation.

“We look forward to presenting the annual Spirit of Excellence Awards as a way to show how much we appreciate these outstanding suppliers,” said Melanie A. Faust, director of purchasing at Hormel Foods. “We're honored to partner with these distinguished suppliers who truly make a positive impact on our business.”

Suppliers that qualified for the Spirit of Excellence Award maintained a minimum supplier rating index score of 92 throughout a 12-month period. This score is determined by a universal measurement system that began in 1990 to ensure each supplier is held to the same standards. Award criteria include meeting performance requirements, making on-time deliveries and providing high-level customer support.

In addition to the Spirit of Excellence Award, suppliers compete for the Hormel No. 1 Award every five years. Last year, the company announced the Hormel No. 1 Award recipients, who were honored for providing long-term, consistent, superior performance during the five-year period from 2006 to 2010. One of the criteria for the award requires recipients to have received a Spirit of Excellence Award during four out of five years.

Contractors
A.J. Lysne Contracting Corporation
Allweather Roof
East Penn Manufacturing
Environmental Land Management, LLC
Fehr Solutions, LLC
Fox Electric
Gleeson Constructors & Engineers, LLC
Hyster Company
The Joseph Company, Inc.
Kestner Electric, Inc.
KOFAB
Lou Rich, Inc.
Multivac, Inc.
Preston Refrigeration
Rockwell Automation
Superior Companies of Minnesota, Inc.
Weber, Inc.
Werner Electric Supply
Wolf-Tec, Inc.

Pork procurement
Blue River Pork
Classic FM LLC
David Reuter
East Ridge Pork
Edmundson Hog Farms LLC
Hufford Bros.
Jason Fett
JBS Hogs LLC
John Regier
Josie's Pork Farm Inc.
Ken Winsel
Lake Country Pork LLC
Lost Island Inc.
Marzolf Swine Inc.
Midway Hogs LLP
New Fashion Pork
Paris Foods
Ron Nykamp
Spronk Bros. LLP
Stan Schaefer Inc.
Vander Maten Farms Inc
Warren Alleven
Wilbur Pig

Provisions
Fieldale Farms Corporation

Purchasing
Airlite Plastics Co.
Ampac Packaging, LLC
Bunzl Processor Division
Crown Foods North America
Curwood, Inc.
Dickson Industries, Inc.
DXP Enterprises, Inc.
Ecolab, Inc.
Gamer Packaging Inc.
Hydrite Chemical Co.
International Paper
Kalle USA, Inc.
The Meyers Printing Companies, Inc.
Minnesota Corrugated Box, Inc.
Multisorb Technologies Inc
Newly Weds Foods Inc
Progressive Packaging, Inc.
Red Arrow Products Company LLC
RR Donnelley
Sargento
Sealed Air Corporation Cryovac Division – Bags & Film
Sensient – Dehydrated Flavors
Silgan Containers LLC
Smyth Companies
Viscofan USA
Walter G. Anderson Inc.
xpedx

Transportation
Dickey Transport, Inc.
Holiday Express Corporation
ICS Logistics Corporation
McFarland Truck Lines, Inc.
MCT Transportation, LLC

About Hormel Foods
Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minn., is a multinational manufacturer and marketer of consumer-branded food and meat products, many of which are among the best known and trusted in the food industry. The company leverages its extensive expertise, innovation and high competencies in pork and turkey processing and marketing to bring branded, value-added products to the global marketplace. The company is a member of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes, Maplecroft Climate Innovation Indexes, Global 1000 Sustainable Performance Leaders and was again named one of "The 100 Best Corporate Citizens” by Corporate Responsibility Magazine in 2011. The company enjoys a strong reputation among consumers, retail grocers, foodservice and industrial customers for products highly regarded for quality, taste, nutrition, convenience and value. For more information, visit http://www.hormelfoods.com.

Hormel Foods Corporation
Julie H. Craven, 507-437-5345
media@hormel.com