Meat Products Manufacturers
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 3,442 meat manufacturing facilities in the US slaughter, process, and package meat protein products; principally beef, pork, and poultry. Meat manufacturing operations are comprised of three main processes: animal slaughtering, meat processing and packing, and rendering non-edible waste into useable byproducts. Larger manufacturers may engage in all of these activities, while smaller manufacturers may have much more limited or specialized operations.
Increasing Regulation
Meat product manufacturers are subject to extensive federal, state, and local laws and regulations by authorities that oversee slaughtering and processing, packaging, storage, distribution, advertising, labeling, food safety standards, and export of meat products.
Growth In Demand For Healthier Meats
Health-conscious consumers are increasingly demanding meats from animals raised without antibiotics or hormones and those fed specialized organic feed.
Industry size & Structure
The average meat products manufacturer employs 160 workers and generates $96 million in annual revenue.
- There are 3,442 federally inspected meat and poultry slaughtering and processing plants in the US, employing about 548,000 people and generating annual revenue of $267 billion.
- In beef and pork processing, the top 8 companies, including Cargill, Tyson Foods, JBS, and Smithfield Foods, control 63% of revenue.
- In poultry processing, the top 8 companies, including Pilgrim's Pride, Tyson Foods, Perdue, Sanderson Farms, and Koch Foods, control 54% of revenue.
- The US is the world's largest producer of poultry meat, representing 17% of world production.
- One of the largest slaughterhouses in the world is operated by the Smithfield Packing Company in Tar Heel, North Carolina, and can butcher about 35,000 hogs a day.
- The top livestock and poultry slaughtering US states are: Cattle - Nebraska, Kansas, and Texas; Hogs and pigs - Iowa, Minnesota, and North Carolina; Chicken - Georgia, Arkansas, and Alabama; and Turkey - Minnesota, North Carolina, and Arkansas.
Industry Forecast
Meat Products Manufacturers Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Feb 23, 2025 - Payrolls Swell Amid Falling Sales
- Producer prices for meat products manufacturers rose 3.6% in December compared to a year ago after rising 3.2% in the previous December-versus-December annual comparison, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Employment by the industry grew 1.4% year over year in December, while average wages at meat products manufacturers rose 6.3% over the same period to a new high of $22.56 per hour, BLS data show. Employment by the industry and average wages are at record highs amid declining food industry sales, down 8.3% in the third quarter of 2024 compared to a year ago, per the Census Bureau.
- Meat and poultry processors are feeling the impact of the freezing of federal grants by the Trump administration, according to the American Association of Meat Processors (AAMP). Companies that were awarded grants in 2023-24 but not yet received the funds are finding themselves in the middle of expansions and equipment purchases without a way to move forward. The AAMP cites the case of New Hampshire’s Granite State Packing, which was awarded $1.6 million from the USDA under the Local MCAP (Local Meat Capacity) Grant to support independently-owned meat and poultry processing businesses. According to the company, it started construction and ordered more than $600,000 worth of new equipment before learning that grant funds were on hold until further notice. Granite State Packing isn’t alone. Many small and independent producers and farmers have had USDA funding they were counting on frozen by the Trump administration.
- Pressure on the beef industry is driving mass layoffs among meat processors, with Cargill, one of North America’s largest meat processors, laying off thousands of workers, The Wall Street Journal reports. US cattle ranchers have been shrinking herds because of drought and high supply chain costs, reducing the livestock supply and raising prices for beef processors. Adverse conditions have reduced the number of cattle in the US to its lowest level in nearly a decade, with domestic beef production on track to drop by more than 2 billion pounds in 2024, the biggest annual decline since 1979, according to the USDA. Cargill has laid off workers at a Nashville beef plant, sold a California beef processing facility and offloaded a dry sausage plant to competitor Smithfield. Tyson Foods will permanently close a plant in Kansas that made seasoned and marinated proteins and ground beef, in February 2025.
- Tyson Foods in September became the second major meat company to be sued for greenwashing in 2024, The Wall Street Journal reports. The advocacy organization Environmental Working Group sued Tyson alleging the company’s claim that it will reach net-zero emissions by 2050 and for touting plans for “climate-smart” beef are misleading because Tyson has no real plans to achieve these goals. The suit was filed in Washington, DC, where a consumer protection law allows interest groups to sue companies for false advertising on behalf of consumers. In February, NY State sued Brazilian meat conglomerate JBS on similar grounds, alleging its pledge to reach net-zero emissions by 2040 wasn’t backed by a feasible plan. Greenwashing – or making an unsubstantiated claim to deceive consumers into believing a company’s products are environmentally friendly – has increased as pressure on companies to reduce emissions and adopt more sustainable practices intensifies.
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