Business of Food & Beverage

Hormel’s Jennie-O Donates 15,000 Turkeys To Set a World Record

Nov. 27, 2023

The Hormel unit collaborated with NBC’s Today show to give the birds to Feeding America on World Kindness Day Nov. 13.

Hormel Foods and its Jennie-O turkey brand claimed a Guinness World Records title for the “Largest Donation of Turkeys in 24 Hours” with their donation of 15,000 whole turkeys, made on Nov. 13 for World Kindness Day.

Separately, Jennie-O donated more than 5,000 additional turkeys to other charities in the U.S., totaling more than 20,000 turkeys donated this Thanksgiving season.

The Jennie-O brand collaborated with NBC’s Today TV show and its Al Roker to donate the 15,000 turkeys to local partners of Feeding America, the largest charity working to end hunger in the U.S. 7,500 birds were provided to Food Bank for New York City and City Harvest and the other 7,500 were given to Greater Chicago Food Depository.

Eight Jennie-O semi-trucks were deployed from Minnesota to New York and Chicago to deliver the turkeys. The previous Guinness World Record for the “Most Turkeys Donated in 24 Hours” was 7,620 turkeys, weighing nearly 142,118 lbs. This year’s Jennie-O donation weighed more than 320,450 pounds.

About the Author

Dave Fusaro | Editor in Chief

Dave Fusaro has served as editor in chief of Food Processing magazine since 2003. Dave has 30 years experience in food & beverage industry journalism and has won several national ASBPE writing awards for his Food Processing stories. Dave has been interviewed on CNN, quoted in national newspapers and he authored a 200-page market research report on the milk industry. Formerly an award-winning newspaper reporter who specialized in business writing, he holds a BA in journalism from Marquette University. Prior to joining Food Processing, Dave was Editor-In-Chief of Dairy Foods and was Managing Editor of Prepared Foods.