AUSTIN, Minn. — This week, the makers of the Natural Choice® brand embarked on the 2021 Good Feeds Us All Tour across America, partnering with local retailers and BBQ legend Moe Cason to provide monetary and product donations for those in need. In-between visits to community organizations, the tour’s smoker truck is serving up free sandwich samples featuring the brand’s newest innovation – Natural Choice® Hardwood Smoked lunch meat – to the community. Today, the smoker tour truck and product samples can be found at two Cub Foods locations in Bloomington (France Ave. S. location in the morning) and Rosemount (White Bear Ave. N. location in the afternoon).
Moe Cason is one of the most celebrated pitmasters in the world and has served as a judge and BBQ expert on many cooking competition shows on Food Network, including Bobby Flay, BBQ Brawl and Chopped: Grill Masters. A U.S. Navy veteran known for his community service, Cason created a delicious signature sandwich using the new Natural Choice® hardwood smoked lunch meat line, which will be sampled at all tour stops.
“The Hormel® Natural Choice® hardwood smoked line is made the way a BBQ expert like myself would make it – slow smoked over real wood,” Cason said. “I’m excited to share my recipe, and I’m honored to be a part of the Good Feeds Us All Tour, which is really about supporting those in need in our communities.”
The Natural Choice® hardwood smoked lunch meats are expertly crafted and slow smoked in netting over real wood chips for more than four hours. The line includes unique and delicious flavors like applewood ham, applewood turkey with garlic and herbs, pecanwood ham with sweet black pepper and pecanwood ham with brown sugar.
The tour runs through July 16, with stops at community organizations like Hallie Q. Brown Community Center in St. Paul, Minn., an organization whose mission focuses on affordable early childhood education, food access and senior programming. In Des Moines, Iowa, the tour’s smoker truck will visit the Starts Right Here youth community center to help support its mission of encouraging and educating young people living in disadvantaged and oppressive circumstances using the arts, entertainment, hip hop, music and other programs. Finally, the smoker truck will visit the Veterans Community Project (VCP) in Kansas City, Mo., to support their efforts to help veterans in need. Founded in 2016 by combat veterans, VCP offers an innovative homeless housing program and outreach assistance that provides inclusive services to aid veterans in re-claiming control over their lives.
“After a year in which many of us were separated, we’re excited to get back out on the road and support our communities with the Good Feeds Us All Tour,” said John Hernandez, senior brand manager at Hormel Foods. “This initiative is really about connections. Our products provide an easy way for families to put delicious food on their tables so they can focus on what’s really important – spending time with the ones they love.”
With no preservatives, no artificial ingredients and no added nitrites/nitrates (except for those naturally occurring in cultured celery and sea salt), Natural Choice® products are 100% natural* and make lunch easy and delicious. They are an ideal choice for those who need a quick mealtime solution and want to feel good about what they feed their families. The Natural Choice® brand offers premium deli-style lunch meats in a variety of flavors such as oven roasted turkey, honey deli ham and uncured hard salami. When there’s no time to cook, Natural Choice® wraps – including pepperoni pizza, ham and cheddar, and bacon club – are the perfect meal on the run. For a satiating snack, Natural Choice® stacks are a go-to, in lovable combos like uncured pepperoni and cheddar, and honey ham and cheddar; and Natural Choice® snacks featuring ham, chicken or turkey paired with cheddar cheese and a dark-chocolate confection offer consumers another convenient option.
For more information visit www.NaturalChoice.com.
* Minimally processed. No artificial ingredients.
ABOUT HORMEL FOODS — Inspired People. Inspired Food.™
Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minn., is a global branded food company with over $9 billion in annual revenue across more than 80 countries worldwide. Its brands include Planters®, SKIPPY®, SPAM®, Hormel® Natural Choice®, Applegate®, Justin’s®, Wholly®, Hormel® Black Label®, Columbus® and more than 30 other beloved brands. The company is a member of the S&P 500 Index and the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats, was named on the “Global 2000 World’s Best Employers” list by Forbes magazine for three years, is one of Fortune magazine’s most admired companies, has appeared on Corporate Responsibility Magazine’s “The 100 Best Corporate Citizens” list for 12 years, and has received numerous other awards and accolades for its corporate responsibility and community service efforts. The company lives by its purpose statement — Inspired People. Inspired Food.™ — to bring some of the world’s most trusted and iconic brands to tables across the globe. For more information, visit www.hormelfoods.com and http://csr.hormelfoods.com/.
