Hormel Foods President and CEO Jim Snee said the company’s Jennie-O Turkey Store subsidiary is a key part of the diversified agrifood company’s portfolio, and it will only become more important to the company and to consumers.
“The consumer need and the consumer opportunity is real. The space and the place … in our portfolio is significant. It has been, is and will continue to be an important part of our organization” Snee said while speaking at the Barclays Global Consumer Conference on September 5, in Boston, Massachusetts.
Value-added opportunities
When asked what the turkey business brings to the company, Snee first mentioned the opportunities it presented to develop value-added products.
“When we think about the value-added opportunities in our business, turkey is front and center in the work that we’ve done over the years, with lean ground turkey,” Snee said, adding that the team has done an “amazing job” in building out the Jennie-O brand through ground turkey innovations.
Turkey’s health attributes
Snee also mentioned turkey has a strong potential for consumers who are seeking to lose weight, or diabetic consumers who are taking GLP-1 medications. He described turkey as “very relevant” with that consumer set, and that relevance is apt to become even greater.
“Consumers are going to be thinking about and needing … lean sources of protein. Turkey fits that bill in a big way,” Snee said.
Foodservice demand
Jennie-O Turkey Store is also reaching consumers at the foodservice level, and Snee said that fact probably goes unnoticed to many.
“Whether we’re thinking about sandwiches or center of the plate, turkey plays a key role in our foodservice segment as well,” he said. “So just across the spectrum, turkey is an important protein that is not going away in our portfolio.”
