Changing The Meat We Eat®

Applegate introduces a new line of organic blended burgers and meatballs. The chef-crafted, Well Carved™ product line combines meat with whole vegetables, legumes and grains, and continues the Applegate mission – Changing The Meat We Eat®.

Applegate enters the snacking category with the release of Applegate Naturals® Pepperoni and Cheddar Snack Pack and Applegate Naturals® Genoa Charcuterie Plate, the perfect grab-and-go snacks with cleaner labels and higher standards.

Applegate introduces its first attempt at blending organic meat and veggies to cater to the growing population of conscientous carnivores.

Applegate overhauled its entire natural cheese line to a Non-GMO Project Verified milk supply from cows raised on pasture. While the result was a clean, crave-able cheese, Applegate decided later to focus its efforts on its organic cheese line. (2018 – 2020)

Applegate receives verification from the Non-GMO Project for its natural and organic 100 percent grass-fed beef hot dogs.

Applegate introduces its first products to carry the Non-GMO Project Verified butterfly seal – Applegate Organics® Chicken Nuggets and Applegate Organics® Gluten-Free Chicken Nuggets. Applegate announces its intent to verify all of its products.

Applegate removes genetically modified ingredients from all of its products – more than 130.

Applegate announces the conversion of all its beef products to 100 percent grass-fed and finished.

Hormel Foods acquires Applegate in a deal that allows Applegate to operate as an independent, stand-alone subsidiary.

Applegate sponsors the production and distribution of "Resistance," a documentary that outlines the perils of antibiotic overuse and proposes solutions for reversing the tide.

Applegate brings the mission to cheese production and introduces rBGH-free cheese.

Applegate gives the humble hot dog – often considered the poster child for mystery meat – a makeover and debuts an organic, 100 percent grass-fed beef hot dog.

Applegate goes a step further on the mission by introducing the first widely-available certified organic deli meat.

Stephen McDonnell becomes aware of the wide-spread use of antibiotics in animal agriculture and the detrimental effects on animal welfare, the environment and human health. As a result, Applegate introduces its first deli meat with no antibiotics ever.

The mission starts with Applegate founder Stephen McDonnell wondering: "what if you weren't afraid to read a hot dog ingredient label?" In 1987, Stephen met Christopher Ely and decides to buy Christopher's family business, Jugtown Smokehouse, a purveyor of fine smoked meats made without synthetic nitrates.