Hormel Foods announced Thursday that the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, passed in December, will result in millions being fueled into employee wages and benefits, more community donations, acceleration of company growth, as well as increased capital investments made into key brands, said CEO Jim Snee.

“Tax reform will have a clear benefit to all Hormel stakeholders — our shareholders, our employees, and the communities in which we operate,” said Snee in a company press release outlining the results of the company’s first quarter.

The recent tax legislation lowered the company’s tax rate; in combination to a one-time tax event, Hormel realized a one-time non-cash benefit of $68 million in the first quarter.

The additional funds will allow the company to award stock options to its over 20,000 employees, as well increase its starting wages to $13 an hour by the end of fiscal 2018, and $14 an hour by the end of fiscal 2020.

Communities will also benefit, with a pledge of an additional $25 million in donations over the next five years, said Snee.

Snee also said the company would “make additional strategic, disciplined capital investments into innovation, technology and automation which will improve our operating efficiencies and enhance margins. We also plan to invest a portion of the tax benefit beach into our business to drive incremental sales and earnings growth.

“Our priorities are to invest in growing key domestic brands such as Jennie-O, Hormel Pepperoni, Skippy, Muscle Milk, and our new plant-based protein brand, Evolve.”

The company posted sales of $2.3 billion in the first quarter, an increase of 2 percent, buoyed by a strong earnings growth in Grocery Products, although that was off-set by continuing challenges in an over-supplied turkey industry and increased freight costs, said Snee.

The quarter also posted increased employee profit sharing, with earnings per share enjoying a healthy 56 cents per share, up 27 percent from 2017, when earnings were 44 cents per share.

The quarter also saw the completed acquisition of Columbus Craft Meats; and the creation of a new deli division in Refrigerated Foods that include Columbus Craft Meats, the Jennie-O Turkey Store deli division, the Hormel and Di Lusso deli brands and the Hormel Gathering party trays.

The new division will “help retailers drive growth in this on-trend and growing category with an unmatched array of innovative solutions,” Snee said. “Our new deli division represents almost $1 billion in annual sales and will be the company’s next growth engine.”

Highlights by Segment

Grocery products: Net sales up 1 percent, strong growth, led by Wholly Guacamole dips, Muscle Milk, Hormel Compleats, Herdez salsas and Spam.

Refrigerated foods: Net sales up 5 percent, boosted by inclusion of Columbus and Fontanini products, but off-set by divestiture of the Farmer John business. Foodservice sales of Hormel Bacon 1 and Hormel pizza toppings and retail sales of Hormel Black Label bacon and Applegate natural and organic products contributed to organic sales growth.

Jennie-O Turkey Store: Net sales down 7 percent, due to lower harvest volumes and lower turkey commodity prices as a result of continued over-supply of turkeys and excess meat in cold storage.

International: Net sales up 19 percent, due to the addition of sales of Ceratti business in Brazil, increased export sales, and strong results in China.