Hormel Foods Corporation has announced it has achieved its nonrenewable energy use reduction goal and had a record year of giving in its latest annual corporate responsibility report.

“We are making the world a better place by investing in our people and partners, improving communities around the world and creating products that improve the lives of others,” said Jim Snee, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of Hormel Foods. “I am extremely proud of our accomplishments as a leading corporate citizen and of all of our team members, partners and suppliers who are part of our efforts. Together we are making meaningful progress on Our Food Journey and will continue to do so.”

Other highlights of the company’s progress include:

• After previously surpassing its goal to reduce solid waste sent to landfills and water use by 10 percent by 2020, the company continued to implement projects to achieve additional reductions and remains on track to achieve its goal to reduce project packaging by 25 million pounds by 2020. The company expects to meet its greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal in 2020 as it works with partners to bring a 74 MW renewable wind field online.

•As a further commitment of its sustainable agriculture efforts, Hormel Foods helped launch the Cedar River Watershed Partnership – a public-private partnership aimed at improving water quality in this watershed in its supply chain. The partnership held several events for farmers in 2018 and helps farmers in the watershed in southern Minnesota become certified through the Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program.

•To ensure the accountability of its animal care standards throughout its supply chain, more than 2,000 audits were conducted. In addition, Hormel Foods along with other food companies, retailers, livestock producers and trade and professional associations, announced a comprehensive framework to strengthen stewardship of antibiotic use in food animals in calendar year 2018. The framework was part of a two-year dialogue with stakeholders, moderated by the Farm Foundation and Pew Charitable Trusts, to ensure that antibiotics are used judiciously throughout production to protect animal health and public health.

•Hormel Foods launched over 600 new retail and foodservice items, with many targeted toward its sodium reduction and clean-label initiative efforts.

•The company continued its focus on inclusion and diversity, provided approximately 488,000 total hours on training (or around 26 hours of training per team member) and completed more than 1,000 safety assessments each month companywide to help ensure the safety of its team members.

•The company donated more than $15 million in cash and products, which included $7.2 million in hunger donations, its donation of 2.5 million cans of Spammy (a shelf-stable poultry product to help prevent childhood malnutrition in Guatemala), and more than $967,000 in education donations.