Meat Product Manufacturing Industry Profile

Companies in this industry slaughter animals and prepare meat products. Major companies include Hormel Foods and Tyson Foods (both headquartered in the US); as well as Charoen Pokphand Foods (Thailand); Danish Crown (Denmark); JBS and BRF-Brasil Foods (Brazil); NH Foods (Japan); and China's WH Group, whose operations include US-based Smithfield Foods.

About 335 million metric tons of pork, poultry, and beef products are manufactured worldwide each year, including about 47 million metric tons manufactured in the US. China, the EU, the US, and Brazil are the largest meat producers.

The US meat product manufacturing industry includes about 3,600 establishments (single-location companies and units of multi-location companies) with combined annual revenue of about $218 billion.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand is driven by consumer income and by exports. Because meat is largely a commodity, the profitability of individual companies depends on efficient operations and an effective distribution network. Large companies have big economies of scale in production and distribution. Small companies can compete effectively in a local area or by producing unique products.

In the US, the slaughtering segment of the industry is highly concentrated: the 50 largest companies generate more than 90% of segment revenue. The secondary processing segment (meat processed from carcasses) is concentrated: the top 50 companies generate about 70% of segment revenue. Poultry processing is highly concentrated: the top 50 companies generate more than 90% of revenue.

Imports, primarily from Canada, Australia, and New ...