hormel foods corp posted a rise in sales and profit for the fiscal second quarter as higher prices helped the company offset labor and supplychain costs the austin minnbased food producer logged net income attributable to the company of 2616 million for the three months ended may 1 compared with 2279 million a year earlier earnings were 48 cents a share compared with 42 cents analysts surveyed by factset were expecting 47 cents a share sales rose 19 to 31 billion for the period analysts were expecting sales of 307 billion according to factset organic sales which strip out the effects of acquisitions rose 10 and volume fell 2 or 8 on an organic basis the company said chairman and chief executive jim snee said hormels operating margin rose sequentially from the first quarter indicating that higher prices and other efforts to offset inflation are working he added that consumer demand remained robust in the quarter our brands have responded well to pricing actions and we are actively managing pricing and promotional levers to ensure the longterm health of our brands and the categories in which they compete he said the companys jennieo turkey store segment is facing an uncertain period ahead due to a highly pathogenic avian influenza on turkey supply he said beginning in the third quarter we anticipate large supply gaps in the jennieo turkey store vertically integrated supply chain caused by flock losses to date he said refrigeratedfoods sales were up 13 year over year as higher pricing took effect groceryproducts sales climbed 39 largely due to the acquisition of the planters nuts brand write to will feuer at willfeuerwsjcom