Hormel Foods Corporation on September 23 announced that the Hormel Compleats microwave meals packaging line at its Progressive Processing LLC (Dubuque, Iowa) production facility has been recognized as the “Packaging Line of the Year” for 2010 by Packaging Machinery Technology magazine (PMT) for its innovative design, production efficiency and sustainability achievements.
New and renovated packaging lines in the United States and Canada were eligible for the award. Entries were evaluated by the packaging line’s contribution to the company’s actual or projected long-term business plan; level of innovation in design; integration of machinery to optimize productivity; use of new automation and software technologies; worker safety innovation and environmental impact, among other criteria.
The fully integrated Hormel Compleats microwave meals packaging line at Progressive Processing fills and seals more than 240 microwavable meal trays per minute, then loads trays into the retort crate. From there, the fully cooked microwavable meals are unloaded and wrapped with branded sleeves, loaded into cases and the cases are then loaded onto pallet trays and stretch wrapped.
Progressive Processing, which was awarded LEED Gold certification in July, is located at 1205 Chavenelle Court, in Dubuque, Iowa. The facility currently produces Hormel Compleats microwave meals plus Hormel and Valley Fresh chunk chicken.
This recognition was announced in the September/October 2010 issue of PMT magazine. Executives from Hormel Foods will be honored with an award at the PACK EXPO International 2010 conference (October 31-November 3) at McCormick Place in Chicago.
About Hormel Foods
Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minn., is a multinational manufacturer and marketer of consumer-branded food and meat products, many of which are among the best known and trusted in the food industry. The company leverages its extensive expertise, innovation and high competencies in pork and turkey processing and marketing to bring quality, value-added brands to the global marketplace. The company is a member of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and was named one of "The 100 Most Trustworthy Companies” by Forbes in 2010.
