CEO Jeffrey Ettinger

Hormel Foods Corp. noted that sales of its microwavable meals, including the Compleats brand, were weak in the quarter. Consumers are limiting their spending on expensive items amid the recession, and that's hurting products like microwavable meals. CEO Jeffrey Ettinger said the category is seeing competition on pricing as companies seek to keep wooing shoppers. He discussed the issue in the company's third-quarter earnings conference call with analysts on Thursday. QUESTION: Talk about your microwave business, which improved in the second quarter but was weak in the third. Is it competition or is it still the value proposition, or it's just the economic environment? ... Read Full Story

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Packaged food makers H.J. Heinz Co <HNZ.N> and Hormel Foods Corp <HRL.N> both posted better-than-expected quarterly profits as consumers bought more items like ketchup and Spam as they increasingly ate at home to save money. Heinz, which makes its namesake ketchup and Ore-Ida potatoes said on Thursday that it also benefited from strength in emerging markets and price increases, although the stronger U.S. dollar cut into sales outside the United States, causing net income to fall. Hormel, which makes Spam and Dinty Moore canned stew, also saw profits boosted by lower costs for livestock feed in its Jennie-O turkey business. Most ... Read Full Story

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Hormel Foods Corp <HRL.N> raised its fiscal 2009 earnings forecast on Monday, citing a stronger-than-expected third quarter. The maker of Spam lunch meat said the third quarter benefited from a strong performance in refrigerated foods, improvement at Jennie-O turkey and solid results in grocery products. Hormel also benefited from better investment performance in its "rabbi trust" investment trust, Chairman and Chief Executive Jeffrey Ettinger said in a statement. Hormel now expects to earn $2.36 to $2.42 per share this year, up from a prior target of $2.15 to $2.25. Analysts, on average, expected $2.29. The company said it would release third-quarter ... Read Full Story

Hormel Foods says it is boosting its 2009 profit guidance because of strong performance from its refrigerated foods segment. Hormel Foods Corp., which makes Spam, chili and Jennie-O Turkey products, says it now expects to post a profit of $2.36 to $2.42 per share for the year. The company had previously projected a profit of between $2.15 and $2.25 per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect a profit of $2.29 per share for the year. Austin, Minn.-based Hormel also credited improved results at its Jennie-O Turkey Store segment and continued solid performance from its grocery products segment. The company releases its fiscal third-quarter ... Read Full Story

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Commodity costs may be off their record highs and consumers may be struggling, but that doesn't mean food manufacturers are about to slash prices. Many companies such as Campbell Soup Co and Hormel Foods Corp are still locked into contracts struck when prices of ingredients such as wheat, corn, beef, pork and packaging materials were at sky-high levels. Added to that, companies such as Campbell that rely on exports or factories overseas for a large part of their revenue are now getting whacked by a strong dollar. "We're not at a place yet where we've fully recovered," Hormel CEO Jeffrey Ettinger ... Read Full Story