Demand for microwave meals spurs new Hormel plant

The nation's microwave ovens need to be fed. Leave it to Hormel.

The Austin, Minn., meatpacker said it's selling so many microwaveable meals that it plans to build a fourth plant to produce more.

"We literally can't make them fast enough," company spokeswoman Julie Craven said.

The new 327,000-square-foot plant, to be built in Dubuque, Iowa, will open in November 2009, the company said. The project will cost $89 million, and the plant is expected to create 180 jobs.

The microwaveable meals to be produced at the plant need no refrigeration while in storage, a characteristic known in the food business as "shelf-stable."

Hormel makes about 20 such meals -- lasagna to Swedish meatballs to tuna casserole -- under the Hormel Compleats brand. They were one of the bestselling items for the company, according to the most recent annual report issued in October, with sales up 40 percent during its most recent fiscal year. Sales of the products have more than tripled in the past three years.

Founded in 1891 in Austin, Hormel employs nearly 19,000 people worldwide and operates 13 plants.

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)