Hormel Foods Announces 2025 Class of 10 Under 20 Food Heroes

Honorees to gather at the company's global headquarters for recognition and mentorship

AUSTIN, Minn., Dec. 1, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL), a Fortune 500 global branded food company, today announced its fourth cohort of 10 Under 20 Food Heroes, recognizing the efforts of young people across the United States who are working to create a more transparent, secure, and sustainable food system.

The program fosters a nationwide network of young changemakers united by a shared passion for improving their communities. To recognize and celebrate these young leaders, Hormel Foods will host the group at its global headquarters in Austin, Minnesota where honorees will connect with Hormel Foods leaders and discuss scaling their projects. This support aims to expand the reach of their initiatives and help them continue to grow their leadership skills.

"We are incredibly proud to welcome these young leaders to Hormel Foods and provide them with the resources and support they need to amplify their impact," said Katie Clark, senior vice president and chief communications officer for Hormel Foods. "From passing state legislation to developing sustainable farming solutions, each of the 10 Under 20 Food Heroes has demonstrated an exceptional commitment to building a more sustainable food system, and we are excited to see how they will continue to shape the future of food."

This year's 10 Under 20 program also includes mental health and resilience training for the cohort and their families through Be Strong, an organization aimed at strengthening mental, emotional, and relational health. This support ensures the well-being of these young leaders as they tackle challenges in the food system.

The 2025 cohort of 10 Under 20 Food Heroes includes:

Adam Belouad, 19, Falls Church, Va.

Adam serves as the executive director of Hand to Hunger, a nonprofit that works to combat food insecurity by bringing students and corporations together to provide meals for those in need. Together with some friends, he started a weekly tradition of cooking warm meals for a local homeless shelter. This weekly tradition grew from 30 bagged lunches to 4,000 meals by the third month and now has grown into a global community of tens of thousands of volunteers. Hand to Hunger has served over 220,000 meals and mobilized 62,500 student volunteers.

Ali Muzik, 17, Austin, Minn.

Ali focuses her work on enhancing the Packer Pantry and Clothing Closet, a student-led group that brings together several different programs that provide food, clothing, and personal items for students and families in need. She helps organize volunteers and shares the pantry's story with the community. She implemented an online ordering form to optimize pantry usage, which inventories items and provides ease of product pick up for students.

Angelina Xu & Advika Agarwal, 19 & 19, Clarksburg, Md.

Angelina & Advika co-founded Compostology, a nonprofit dedicated to bringing food waste composting, recovery, and prevention programs to every school in Montgomery County, Maryland. The organization seeks to simultaneously tackle food waste, hunger, and an inequitable K-12 educational opportunity. The pair have led postcard campaigns at 20+ schools and lobbied at the Maryland General Assembly. Their efforts helped pass SB 124, a state bill that allocated $1.25 million in grant funding for K-12 schools to start their own composting and food recovery programs.

Atreya Manaswi, 19, Orlando, Fla.

Atreya works with the USDA and University of Florida on honeybee conservation through his organization, Save Our Bees. His research targets the small hive beetle, one of the most destructive pests threatening pollinators. He developed an eco-friendly beer-based pesticide blend that is 4,754 times cheaper than the leading pesticide. His innovation has the potential to save the beekeeping industry over $1 billion annually and successfully eradicated infestations in field trials without harming pollinators.

Bella Brown, 18, Chicago, Ill.

Bella is the co-founder of Living Outside, a nonprofit that creates care packages with essential food and clothing items to hand out to those in need. Today, Bella has grown the organization into 20 youth-led chapters worldwide, including in Nigeria, Benin, Haiti, and Peru. She provides seed funding and mentorship and has distributed more than 6,000 care bags. She has also raised over $8,000 in monetary donations and hosted more than 30 events, impacting thousands of homeless individuals.

Bruce Matos, 17, Weston, Conn.

Bruce is the co-founder of the Joshua's Heart Foundation (JHF) Connecticut Junior Advisory Board, a youth-led group of middle and high school students. They organize and run their own projects to combat hunger and poverty, through food drives, school supply collections, and book donations to local schools. Inspired by JHS's grocery distribution model, he expanded the organization's mission into his home state. As a founding member, Bruce has helped distribute over 7 million pounds of food, serving more than 6 million meals. As head of the partners & sponsors team, he engaged corporate donors and helped raise over $43,000, impacting more than 1,500 families.

Chris Matthews, 18, McDonough, Ga.

Chris (CJ) started Blankies 4 My Buddies, a nonprofit that delivers blankets to those dealing with difficult situations like illness, loss, grief, food insecurity, and homelessness. He started his project to support others after his family experienced a difficult pregnancy loss, channeling his grief to address sadness and situations like food insecurity. CJ hosts events that seek to show love through meals, blankets, and other means of support. To date, he has helped over 5,000 families through his annual The Giving Bowl event, a youth football tournament that promotes giving by inviting attending families to pick up essential items like food, cold-weather gear, and toys.

Hunter Guthrie, 17, Vienna, Va.

Hunter founded A Taste of Home, Inc, a nonprofit that solves the dual problem of reducing food waste and food insecurity in Northern Virginia by retrieving unsold food and delivering it to shelters. He contacts companies for food donations, which he picks up and brings to the shelter. He has also raised over $60,000 in donations to purchase the most requested items the shelter rarely receives. He encourages other teens to participate by offering volunteer hours for every 10 to-go meals a volunteer makes and donates.

Laura Kopec, 20, Tampa, Fla.

Laura started Feeding the Fosters which provides meals and unique dining experiences (such as trips to hibachi restaurants) for foster children in the Tampa area. The nonprofit has prepared nearly 40,000 individual meals with the help of more than 2,500 volunteers and raised over $300,000 through grants, donations, and fundraisers, allowing the group to use a commercial kitchen.

Ryan Gustis, 19, Woodridge, Ill.

Ryan founded The Backpack Project, a nonprofit that hand-delivers backpacks full of necessities to individuals who are homeless. Within each backpack, he provides essentials like food, socks, outerwear, toiletries, and a handmade card for positivity. To date, over 3,000 backpacks have been delivered throughout Chicago, the suburbs, and other surrounding states where family and friends have traveled.

Together, these 10 Under 20 Food Heroes are shaping the future of the food system through youth leadership, sustainability, innovation and community-driven solutions.

To learn more about the 10 Under 20 Food Heroes program, visit 10under20foodheroes.com.

About Hormel Foods — Inspired People. Inspired Food.^™

Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minnesota, is a global branded food company with approximately $12 billion in annual revenue. Its brands include PLANTERS^®, SKIPPY^®, SPAM^®, HORMEL^® NATURAL CHOICE^®, APPLEGATE^®, JUSTIN'S^®, WHOLLY^®, HORMEL^® BLACK LABEL^®, COLUMBUS^®, JENNIE-O^® 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 one of the best companies to work for by U.S. News & World Report, one of America's most responsible companies by Newsweek, recognized by TIME magazine as one of the World's Best Companies 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 hormelfoods.com.

 

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