Jennie-O Turkey Store is a

brand name A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

products. It is a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

of the Hormel Foods Corporation in Willmar, Minnesota.

History

The company was founded by Earl B. Olson in 1940, when he began raising turkeys. In 1949, he bought the former Farmers Produce Company of Willmar and its turkey processing plant. In 1953, it was renamed to Jennie-O after his daughter, Jennifer Olson. Wallace Jerome also played a role in the formation of the current Jennie-O organization. In 1941, Jerome founded the Turkey Store Company. The company was privately owned by the Olson family until 1986, when it was sold to Hormel Foods, of

Austin, Minnesota Austin is a city in and the county seat of Mower County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 26,174 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The town was originally settled along the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River and has ...

. In February 2001, Jennie-O Foods, Inc., and The Turkey Store Company, consolidated under Hormel to create the brand Jennie-O Turkey Store.

Locations

Jennie-O has a total of six company locations, five of which are in

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

and one in

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. The Minnesota locations include Willmar/Spicer, Faribault,

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, Pelican Rapids, and Melrose. The only Wisconsin plant is found in Barron.

Controversy

Since 2022, Jennie-O has receive
$103.81
million in taxpayer-subsidized United States Department of Agriculture Indemnity payments after exterminating their flocks due to avian influenza. The Animal Legal Defense Fund an
Animal Partisan
allege the compan
used
the controversial killing method known as Ventilation Shutdown Plus (VSD+) in some of thos
depopulations

References

{{Hormel Brand name meats Hormel Foods brands American companies established in 1940 Food and drink companies established in 1940 1940 establishments in Minnesota