Source: Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE, 10/21/11

These are good times at Smithfield Foods Inc., with record profitability, an improved relationship with the United Food and Commercial Workers union, and kudos from all corners for its environmental programs. This, from a company that once was beset by lawsuits over odor and pollution, excoriated for its animal handling policies, and had a toxic relationship with the unions.

The best captains are hired to steer the ship through the shoals, and in recognition of his work as CEO of Smithfield since 2006, C. Larry Pope has been named the 2012 Richard L. Knowlton Innovation Award honoree by Meatingplace, the poultry, pork and beef processing industries’ premier business information source.

As the recovery remains mired in the economic mud, Smithfield, in its first quarter of 2012, reported a record-high adjusted operating profit of $222.2 million on consolidated sales of $3.1 billion.

After years of acrimony and legal wrangling between the parties, Smithfield Foods and the United Food and Commercial Workers have, since late 2009, worked together on a nationwide food bank donation project, dubbed “Feeding the Hungry.” The goal is to deliver 20 million servings of protein over a three-year period.

And, as just one measure of the company’s success in establishing progressive environmental policies, earlier this year Smithfield earned the only “A+” rating from Claremont McKenna College’s Roberts Environmental Center for its 2009-10 sustainability reporting. Smithfield Foods received an 'A' from the college in 2009.

“Larry Pope stands out among processing industry leaders for addressing Smithfield’s challenges head-on and not only overcoming them, but making them a non-issue,” says Meatingplace Publisher Bill Kinross. “His success in linking Smithfield with the concept of sustainability, and in giving back to the communities where Smithfield does business truly reflects the spirit of Richard L. Knowlton, for whom this award is named.”

Meatingplace will present the 2012 Knowlton Award to Pope in the spring, at an event in Smithfield, Va.
Joins the list

Pope is the first CEO of Smithfield to be named for the Knowlton Award. Previous Knowlton Award honorees include:
• 2011: Jason Jennings, CEO, Jennings Premium Meats
• 2010: Jeff Ettinger, CEO, Hormel Inc.
• 2009: Mike Satzow, CEO, North Country Smokehouse
• 2008: David Wood, chairman, Beef Division, Harris Ranch
• 2007: Phil Clemens, chairman and CEO, Hatfield Quality Meats
• 2006: Bill Rupp, president, Cargill Meat Solutions' Beef Division
• 2005: Joel Johnson, chairman and CEO, Hormel Foods Corp.
• 2004: Jim Stonehocker, COO, Odom's Tennessee Pride
• 2003: Henry Davis, president, Greater Omaha Packing Co.
• 2002: Temple Grandin, assistant professor, Colorado State University
• 2001: Bernie Hansen, president, Flint Hills Foods
• 2000: Justin Segel, CEO, Emmpak Foods

Meatingplace, published monthly, is a part of Marketing & Technology Group's rich portfolio of business-to-business media communities serving the poultry and meat processing, foodservice and hospitality industries. The company's magazine properties include Meatingplace, Plate, HOTELS and Carnetec; and industry Web sites meatingplace.com, carnetec.com, plateonline.com and hotelsmag.com.

For more stories, go to www.meatingplace.com.