Hormel Foods has announced that the company surpassed the packaging minimization goal by reducing packaging by a total of 21.8 million pounds, as part of its first set of five-year goals, which ended in 2011.
The new goals, which became effective in fiscal year 2012, are being measured against base year 2011 at company-owned and international manufacturing locations.
Earlier the company's goal was to reduce product packaging by 4 million pounds annually from 2006 to 2011 and at present could reduce by an average of 4.4 million pounds per year and a total of 21.8 million pounds.
As part of its new goal, Hormel Foods plans to reduce product packaging by 25 million pounds by 2020.
Hormel Foods chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer Jeffrey Ettinger commenting on the achievement said: "The last five years have been rewarding, as we achieved significant reductions on several key sustainability metrics; challenging, as we reported data that had not previously been calculated; and enlightening, as the process provided an opportunity for us to take a fresh look at long established policies and procedures."