Hormel Foods honors 90 suppliers with Spirit of Excellence Awards

Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL) recently awarded 90 suppliers with a 2013 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.

“The Hormel Foods Spirit of Excellence Award program recognizes the suppliers that truly go above and beyond in helping us achieve our goals,” said Tyler L. Hulsebus, director of purchasing at Hormel Foods. “We’re honored to partner with these outstanding suppliers.”

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. Three years ago, 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 2006-2010. One of the criteria for the award requires recipients to have received a Spirit of Excellence Award during four out of five years.