To the Shareholders and Board of Directors
Hormel Foods Corporation
Austin, Minnesota

We have audited the accompanying consolidated statements of financial position of Hormel Foods Corporation as of October 28, 2000 and October 30, 1999, and the related consolidated statements of operations, changes in shareholders' investment and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended October 28, 2000. These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits.

We conducted our audits in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated financial position of Hormel Foods Corporation at October 28, 2000 and October 30, 1999, and the consolidated results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended October 28, 2000, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.

Minneapolis, Minnesota
November 20, 2000