AUSTIN, Minn. – Hormel Foods Corporation was added to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (D.J.S.I. World), which is a list of the most sustainable companies in the world.

"We are proud to be recognized on this list for the first time," said Jeffrey Ettinger, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer at Hormel Foods. "This reflects the efforts we have made to define our corporate responsibility priorities in the areas of people, products, process, performance and philanthropy."

Examples of the company’s corporate responsibility initiatives that were evaluated as part of the D.J.S.I. World selection process include:

• A Web-based Environmental Management System used to facilitate progress throughout the company toward meeting environmental requirements. This system includes compliance calendars, policy and procedure information and environmental training materials.
  
• A packaging minimization initiative that included 44 projects, which reduced packaging in Hormel Foods products by 4.2 million lbs.
  
• The company’s effort to establish corporate responsibility standards for suppliers in addition to existing quality and safety standards.

The D.J.S.I. World tracks the financial performance of the top 10% most sustainable companies of the largest 2,500 companies globally. Companies on the D.J.S.I. World are selected through an in-depth analysis based on long-term economic, environmental and social criteria for general as well as industry-specific sustainability trends.