Smithfield Foods

Smithfield Foods, Inc.
Company typePrivate
IndustryMeat processing
Founded1936; 88 years ago (1936), as Smithfield Packing Company, Smithfield, Virginia, United States
FoundersJoseph W. Luter, Sr.
Joseph W. Luter, Jr.
Headquarters200 Commerce Street, Smithfield, Virginia
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Shane Smith (CEO)
Products
  • Meat processing
  • Pork products
Production output
  • As of 2006 raised 15 million pigs and produced six billion pounds of pork per year[1]
BrandsCook's, Eckrich, Gwaltney, John Morrell, Krakus, and Smithfield, among others
RevenueDecreaseUS$14.4 billion (2015)[2]
Decrease US$793.8 million (2015)[2]
Decrease US$452.3 million (2015)[2]
Total assetsDecrease US$9.9 billion (2015)[2]
Total equityIncrease US$4.8 billion (2015)[2]
Number of employees
50,200 (2016)[2]
ParentWH Group[3]
Websitewww.smithfieldfoods.com

Smithfield Foods, Inc., is a Chinese-owned American pork producer and food-processing company based in Smithfield, Virginia. It operates as an independent subsidiary of the multinational conglomerate WH Group.[4][a] Founded in 1936 as the Smithfield Packing Company by Joseph W. Luter and his son, the company is the largest pig and pork producer in the world.[5] In addition to owning over 500 farms in the US, Smithfield contracts with another 2,000 independent farms around the country to raise Smithfield's pigs.[6] Outside the US, the company has facilities in Mexico, Poland, Romania, Germany, Slovakia and the United Kingdom.[7] Globally the company employed 50,200 in 2016 and reported an annual revenue of $14 billion.[2] Its 973,000-square-foot meat-processing plant in Tar Heel, North Carolina, was said in 2000 to be the world's largest, slaughtering 32,000 pigs a day.[8]

Then known as Shuanghui Group, WH Group purchased Smithfield Foods in 2013 for $4.72 billion.[9][10] It was the largest Chinese acquisition of an American company to date.[11] The acquisition of Smithfield's 146,000 acres of land made WH Group, headquartered in Luohe, Henan province, one of the largest overseas owners of American farmland.[b]

Smithfield Foods began its growth in 1981 with the purchase of Gwaltney of Smithfield,[13] followed by the acquisition of nearly 40 companies between then and 2008, including:

The company was able to grow as a result of its highly industrialized pig production, confining thousands of pigs in large barns known as concentrated animal feeding operations, and controlling the animals' development from conception to packing.[8]

As of 2006 Smithfield raised 15 million pigs a year and processed 27 million, producing over six billion pounds of pork[1] and, in 2012, 4.7 billion gallons of manure.[15] Killing 114,300 pigs a day, it was the top pig-slaughter operation in the United States in 2007; along with three other companies, it also slaughtered 56 percent of the cattle processed there until it sold its beef group in 2008.[16][c] The company has sold its products under several brand names, including Cook's, Eckrich, Gwaltney, John Morrell, Krakus, and Smithfield.[17] Shane Smith has been the president and chief executive officer of Smithfield Foods since July 2021.[18]

  1. ^ a b Tietz, Jeff (December 14, 2006). "Boss Hog: The Dark Side of America's Top Pork Producer". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on March 30, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Form 10-K. Smithfield Foods, Inc: Financial statements and supplementary data". United States Securities and Exchange Commission. January 3, 2016. p. 67ff.
  3. ^ "About Us: Company Operations". W H Group. Archived from the original on April 27, 2019.
  4. ^ "Leadership".
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Reuters21Nov2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Diamond18Jan2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Subsidiaries, Smithfield Foods, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
  8. ^ a b Barboza, David (April 7, 2000). "Goliath of the Hog World; Fast Rise of Smithfield Foods Makes Regulators Wary". The New York Times.
  9. ^ De la Merced, Michael J.; Barboza, David (May 29, 2013). "Needing Pork, China Is to Buy a U.S. Supplier". The New York Times.
  10. ^ Polansek, Tom; Zhu, Julie (June 8, 2017). "Exclusive: China's WH Group targets beef and poultry assets in U.S. and Europe". Reuters.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference PBS2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Hettinger, Jonathan; Holly, Robert; Meers, Jelter (July 15, 2017). "Foreign Investment in U.S. Farmland on the Rise". AgoPro. Archived from the original on April 8, 2020.
  13. ^ "Timeline: The history of Smithfield Foods". The Virginian-Pilot. May 29, 2013.
  14. ^ Ralph Deptolla (August 5, 2011). "Smithfield's journey to sustainability: A work in progress". Global Business and Organizational Excellence. 30 (6): 6–16. doi:10.1002/JOE.20401. ISSN 1932-2054. Wikidata Q63347134.
  15. ^ Maron, Dina Fine (July 12, 2013). "Defecation Nation: Pig Waste Likely to Rise in U.S. from Business Deal". Scientific American.
  16. ^ Seward, Robert A. (2009). "Regulations on Meat Hygiene in the USA," in Fidel Toldrá (ed.), Safety of Meat and Processed Meat. Springer, p. 650.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference brandsJuly2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Delesline, Nate (July 7, 2021). "New Foods leader takes over". Smithfield Foods. Retrieved July 7, 2021.


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