Hormel Foods Corporation
Acquisitions
5
Major Deals Covered
$5.9B
Disclosed Deal Value
Hormel's largest disclosed acquisition here is Planters for $3.4B in 2021. This page covers 5 major deals from 2001 to 2026, each with its price where disclosed and the reason behind it.
| Company | Year | Price | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jennie-O Turkey Store | 2001 | Undisclosed | Hormel acquired The Turkey Store and merged it with its existing Jennie-O subsidiary to create the Jennie-O Turkey Store, expanding its vertically integrated turkey platform into a dominant national brand. |
| Skippy | 2013 | $700.0M | Hormel intentionally acquired the Skippy peanut butter brand from Unilever for approximately $700 million to add an internationally recognized non-meat brand and strengthen its high-margin, shelf-stable retail grocery portfolio. |
| Applegate Farms | 2015 | $775.0M | Hormel executed a strategic acquisition of Applegate Farms for $775 million to capture the rapidly growing consumer demand for natural, organic, and antibiotic-free premium meat products. |
| Planters | 2021 | $3.4B | In its largest historical transaction, Hormel acquired the well-known Planters snack-nuts portfolio from Kraft Heinz for an astonishing $3.35 billion, intentionally expanding into the lucrative nuts and on-the-go snacking categories at a national scale. |
| Brakebush Brothers | 2026 | $1.1B | Agreement announced Sept. 30, 2026 to buy the family-owned value-added chicken company for about $1.055 billion in cash. |
2026
$1.1B
Agreement announced Sept. 30, 2026 to buy the family-owned value-added chicken company for about $1.055 billion in cash.
Expands Hormel's foodservice business and adds meaningful exposure to chicken.
Pending closing as of October 1, 2026.
2021
$3.4B
In its largest historical transaction, Hormel acquired the well-known Planters snack-nuts portfolio from Kraft Heinz for an astonishing $3.35 billion, intentionally expanding into the lucrative nuts and on-the-go snacking categories at a national scale.
This transformative deal added an universally known, $1 billion national snacking brand to Hormel's Retail segment, reshaping the company's entire corporate identity from a meatpacker into a diversified, modern snacking conglomerate.
While integration and required brand revitalization initially suppressed margins, Planters has broadened Hormel's presence in the critical grocery snacking aisle, reducing the company's fundamental reliance on raw commodity meat economics.
2015
$775M
Hormel executed a strategic acquisition of Applegate Farms for $775 million to capture the rapidly growing consumer demand for natural, organic, and antibiotic-free premium meat products.
This acquisition essentially gave Hormel immediate dominance in the lucrative natural and organic deli meat category, heavily insulating the company against shifting consumer preferences away from heavily processed conventional meats.
Applegate has operated as a successful standalone subsidiary, allowing Hormel to maintain its premium brand positioning and extract significantly higher profit margins from health-conscious grocery shoppers.
2013
$700M
Hormel intentionally acquired the Skippy peanut butter brand from Unilever for approximately $700 million to add an internationally recognized non-meat brand and strengthen its high-margin, shelf-stable retail grocery portfolio.
This successful deal diversified Hormel's branded-goods base beyond traditional animal meat products, giving the company a strong foothold in the plant-based protein and center-store snacking categories.
Skippy remains one of Hormel's flagship shelf-stable brands and serves as a crucial revenue driver in the International segment, particularly given the brand's large historical popularity in markets like China.
2001
Hormel acquired The Turkey Store and merged it with its existing Jennie-O subsidiary to create the Jennie-O Turkey Store, expanding its vertically integrated turkey platform into a dominant national brand.
This strategic acquisition built out Hormel's protein diversification significantly beyond its historical reliance on pork products, giving the company a footprint in leaner, health-oriented poultry categories.
Jennie-O remains a core Hormel brand in Retail and Foodservice, though commodity turkey and avian influenza have periodically hurt results.
Hormel's growth plan centers on priority brands (Planters, SPAM, Applegate, Hormel chili, Jennie-O value-added turkey), foodservice prepared proteins, and portfolio shaping. Under its Transform and Modernize initiative it is cutting costs and investing in data and technology. It is exiting weaker assets such as Brazil's Ceratti business, and in September 2026 agreed to buy Brakebush Brothers, a value-added chicken processor, for about $1.055 billion to add chicken to its foodservice lineup.
Hormel buys commodity inputs (mainly pork, turkey, peanuts and other nuts) and sells them as branded, value-added foods. A raw pound of pork earns thin margins; cured, sliced and branded as Hormel pepperoni, Black Label bacon or a Columbus charcuterie tray, it earns more. Sales run through three segments: Retail ($7.455 billion in FY2025, grocery, club, mass and convenience), Foodservice ($3.942 billion, restaurants and distributors) and International ($709 million, exports, overseas plants and minority investments).
In June 2021, Hormel Foods completed the landmark $3.35 billion acquisition of the Planters, NUT-rition, and Corn Nuts snack business from Kraft Heinz, marking the largest acquisition in Hormel's history and cementing its leadership in high-protein snacking.
In January 2013, Hormel acquired Skippy peanut butter from Unilever for approximately $700 million. The acquisition gave Hormel a well-known global brand with leading market share in the United States and large consumer reach across China.
In 2015, Hormel acquired Applegate Farms for $775 million to capture rapid consumer growth in natural, organic, and antibiotic-free meats, positioning Hormel as the leading provider of premium clean-label deli and bacon products.
In 2017, Hormel acquired premium charcuterie maker Columbus Craft Meats for $857 million, significantly expanding its market dominance in authentic Italian dry salami, artisan deli cuts, and grab-and-go premium entertaining charcuterie boards.
In 2016, Hormel acquired Justin's LLC for $286 million, adding organic, high-protein peanut, almond, and hazelnut butters and organic snack squeeze packs favored by health-conscious millennial and Gen Z consumers.
In 2017, Hormel acquired Brazilian cold-cuts and meat producer Cidade do Sol (maker of the popular Ceratti brand) for $104 million, establishing a direct manufacturing and distribution beachhead in Latin America's largest economy.
Hormel acquired Jennie-O Foods in 1986 and merged it with The Turkey Store Company in 2001, forming Jennie-O Turkey Store, which grew to become one of the nation's largest and most recognized turkey product brands.
Hormel targets acquisitions of #1 or #2 market-leading brands in growing, value-added food and snacking categories, with margin-accretive economics, clean-label attributes, and strong cross-selling synergies across retail and foodservice.
Hormel is incredibly aggressive in M&A. In 2013, they bought SKIPPY peanut butter for $700 million. In 2015, they bought Applegate Farms for $775 million to capture the massive organic meat trend. In 2021, they executed their absolute largest deal ever: buying the iconic Planters nuts brand from Kraft Heinz for a massive $3.35 billion.
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