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Ettinger made $8.08 million in 2012

Published 10:08am Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Hormel Foods Corp. president and CEO Jeff Ettinger received a total salary of $8.08 million in fiscal 2012, about $890,000 less than his pay in 2011.

Ettinger received a base salary of $1 million in 2012, up from $991,490 the year before, incentive pay of $3.26 million compared to just under $4 million in 2011, and new stock options worth $3.76 million, down from $3.9 million worth of new stock options the year before, according to the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal. However, accounting for Ettinger’s increase in pension value in 2012 of $3.44 million, he made $11.52 million in 2012, up 5 percent from $10.95 million in 2011, when his pension value increased by $1.98 million.

The Hormel CEO also received $59,449 in other compensation, including perks, director fees and physical exams, and a $300 bonus as a member of the executive team, compared to $64,905 in other compensation and a $250 executive bonus in 2011.

As the CEO, president and chairman of the board at Hormel since 2006, Ettinger has propelled the company’s standing in the global meatpacking industry: The company’s annual profit has increased by 74.8 percent since he took the helm six years ago.

The company, which reported a record $500.1 million in profits in 2012, had $286.1 million in profits in 2006. While the company’s total sales have increased substantially during that span, too, it hasn’t been on the same level. Hormel went from $5.75 billion in total sales in 2006 to $8.23 billion last year, a 43.3 percent increase.

Hormel’s annual profit has increased four years running; by 20.1 percent in 2009, 15.4 percent in 2010, 19.9 percent in 2011, and 5 percent in 2012.

Under Ettinger, Hormel has grown through acquisitions, innovations and a diverse portfolio, and 2012 was no different. High grain prices and low pork costs hit Hormel’s refrigerated foods division, which saw a 22 percent decline in profits from 2011. But while that unit declined, the other four picked up the slack, all recording increased profits from 2011, and led especially by its grocery division and the Don Miguel brand of Mexican food, a 2010 acquisition.

Ettinger joined Hormel in 1989, and the company named him president of Jennie-O Turkey Store in 1999, according to hormelfoods.com.

Ettinger is a native of Pasadena, Calif. He and his wife, LeeAnn, live in Austin and have four children.

	2011	2012
—2012 numbers and pension value according to Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal
Total compensation	$8.08M	$8.97M
Base salary	$1,000,220	$991,490
Incentive pay	$3.26M	$3.96M
New stock options	$3.76M	$3.95M
Other compensation	$59,449	$64,905
Bonus	$300	$250
Pension value increase	$3.44M	$1.98M
Pay including pension increase	$11.52M	$10.95M

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