Dear fellow shareholders, Fiscal 2014 represented another excellent year for Hormel Foods, as we achieved  record dollar sales of $9.3 billion and double-digit earnings growth of a record  $2.23 per share. This strong performance was rewarded in the market, with our  share price climbing over 20% this fiscal year. launched  Skippy Yippee ™ , a national advertising cam- paign for our iconic peanut butter brand, after many  years off the air. Refrigerated Foods achieved 45% operating profit  growth on a sales increase of 9% in the face of  extremely tight raw material supplies. With a focus on  innovative product solutions such as  Hormel ®  Bacon 1 TM fully cooked bacon in our foodservice channel and the  expansion of our contemporary  Hormel ®  REV ®  wraps  in the retail trade, we continued to expand our value- added portfolio. CytoSport acquisition In the third quarter we  announced the acquisition of CytoSport Holdings, Inc.,  maker of  Muscle Milk ®  protein-rich beverages and  powders. This transaction expands the Specialty Foods  segment offerings in sports nutrition products.  Muscle  Milk ®  is the number one brand of ready-to-drink  protein-rich beverages, and the product line is an  excellent fit for today’s on the go lifestyles. Jennie-O Turkey Store had strong profit increases and  sales growth this year, driving demand with our  Make  The Switch ®  advertising campaign featuring ground  turkey tacos. The team was able to capitalize on higher  commodity turkey prices, along with continued growth  of our value-added products, to deliver a double-digit  segment profit increase. Through expansion of our existing refrigerated meats  business, along with the addition of the  SKIPPY ® peanut butter business in China early this year, the  International & Other segment achieved another year  of double-digit earnings and sales growth in 2014. Grocery Products faced significant headwinds this year,  with meat protein input costs at record highs, squeez- ing segment margins. Despite those challenges, we  continued to drive growth through our MegaMex Foods  joint venture and  SKIPPY ®  peanut butter. We also  Corporate responsibility We continued to make great  strides in our corporate responsibility initiatives in 2014  and were again recognized externally for many of our  efforts. For example, we were acknowledged for our  dedication to doing business responsibly with a 100 Best  Corporate Citizens award by CR Magazine for the sixth  consecutive year. We were also included on G.I. Jobs  2014 annual report 1 Dividends Hormel Foods has an outstanding history  of returning cash to shareholders, and this year is no  exception. We increased our dividend rate by 25% for  fiscal 2015, on the heels of an 18% increase last year.  The annual dividend rate in fiscal 2015 will be $1.00  per share, marking the 49th consecutive year  we have increased our dividend.  Jeffrey M. Ettinger Chairman of the Board, President  and Chief Executive Officer