Hormel moves up Fortune 500 list

Published 12:49 pm Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Hormel followed a strong year fiscally by moving up a few notches in the annual Fortune 500 list, released Monday.

Hormel Foods Corp. is 319th on the list — which ranks companies by total annual revenue from the previous fiscal year — up eight spots from 327 in 2012. The meatpacker reported $8.2 billion in revenue and $500.1 million in profit in the 2012 fiscal year, both records.

The company could expect to move up even more on next year’s list after its acquisition of Skippy peanut butter announced on Jan. 3. Hormel projects Skippy to add $370 million in sales this fiscal year.

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Hormel was 325th on the list in 2011, 340th in 2010, 373 in 2009, 390 in 2008 and 403 in 2007.

Walmart topped the list, reporting $469.2 billion in revenue, followed by Exxon Mobil, with $449.9 billion, and Chevron, with $233.9 billion.

Minnesota is home to 19 giant public companies — same number as last year — led by prominent names including UnitedHealth Group, Target and Best Buy.

Ten of the Minnesota corporations moved up spots on the list, led by St. Paul-based Ecolab, which leapt 136 places following a pair of major acquisitions.

Eight Minnesota companies slid on the list, including grocer Supervalu, which was selling off assets last year and will fall even more sharply on next year’s list, after recently selling off half the company.

Only eight states boast more corporate headquarters than Minnesota, and all of those have a much larger population. California has 54 companies on the list, Texas and New York 52 each; Illinois 32, Ohio 27, Virginia 23, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey 21 apiece.

The annual Fortune 500 list does not include privately held companies, so Minnesota-based giants like Cargill and Carlson Cos. do not appear.

The full list is available at money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2013/full_list/index.html.