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 3,500 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.
Increased Government Regulation
Meat products 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.
Industry size & Structure
The average meat products manufacturer employs 190 workers and generates $78 million in annual revenue.
- There are 3,500 federally inspected meat and poultry slaughtering and processing plants in the US employing about 538,500 people and generating annual revenue of $221 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 chicken, representing about 20% of the total world production.
- One of the largest slaughterhouse in the world is operated by the Smithfield Packing Company in Tar Heel, North Carolina and is capable of butchering over 30,000 hogs a day.
- The top livestock and poultry slaughtering states are: Cattle - Nebraska, Kansas, Texas; Hogs - Iowa, North Carolina, Illinois; Chicken - Georgia, Arkansas, Alabama; and Turkey - Minnesota, North Carolina, Arkansas.
Industry Forecast
Meat Products Manufacturers Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Mar 15, 2023 - New “Product of USA” Label Requirements
- The US Department of Agriculture in March proposed new requirements that would allow labels on meat, poultry or eggs to use the phrases “Made in the USA” or “Product of USA” only if they come from animals “born, raised, slaughtered and processed in the United States,” The New York Times reports. Current policy allows voluntary use of such labels on products from animals that have been imported from abroad and slaughtered in the US and on meat that’s been imported and repackaged or further processed, according to NYT. The new regulatory requirements are designed to better align the voluntary “Product of USA” label claim with consumer understanding of what the claim means. Under the proposed rule, the “Product of USA” label claim would continue to be voluntary. About 12% of the beef consumed in the US is imported.
- Americans want smaller food portions, according to new research from Georgetown University. The university’s 2022 Portion Balance Attitude and Action Tracking study, which examined whether consumers have made portion-specific behavior changes post-COVID compared to pre-COVID days, found that more than half (58%) of consumers are eating smaller portions and that 45% are buying smaller packages of food items to help manage how much to eat, up from 38% in 2019. “The food industry should continue to use portion control sizing as it gives consumers enjoyment without the guilt,” said Hank Cardello, Chair of Georgetown University's Portion Balance Coalition.
- After several years of rapid growth, sales of plant-based meat appear to be wilting, recent data from market research firm IRI suggests. Moreover, an analysis from Deloitte Consulting indicates that the US market for plant-based meat may already be saturated. Inflation and an association with “wokeness” appear to be driving away shoppers and depressing sales for meat alternatives, Yahoo! reported in January. Alternative meat products from Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat are significantly more expensive than traditional meat brands because they lack the economies of scale of their larger competitors. Industry experts say it could take 15 to 20 years for alternative- meat brands to achieve price parity with regular meat.
- Independent US meat processors received a $9.6 million investment from the Biden administration to help strengthen the nation’s meat supply, Meat+Poultry reported in January. In addition to the federal funds, the USDA is taking several other steps to help farmers, ranchers, meat processors and rural businesses diversify the nation's meat supply by promoting competition. The federal funds are being distributed as loans and grants to 25 independent meat processing businesses. Two operations – in Iowa and Texas — are receiving loans through the Food Supply Chain Guaranteed Loan Program, which total $5.7 million. The 23 grants given through the Value Added Producer Grant program total $3.9 million. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said that there’s a “second tranche of resources” that could be made available later in this year but did not provide details.
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