With several high-profile acquisitions in recent weeks, the meat and poultry market has been no stranger to headlines.
Having topped $85 billion in 2012 (a 17% increase from between 2008 and 2012), Packaged Facts forecasts the meat and poultry market will experience 2.4% compound annual growth through 2017, growing to $98 billion.
The world’s largest beef producer, JBS, already held the highest share of the U.S. market (20%). This weekend’s news that its expected purchase of Seara Foods’ Brazilian poultry unit from Marfrig would push it past Tyson Foods Inc. as the world’s largest poultry producer will certainly help further cement its spot atop the mountain. Likewise, how Smithfield’s acquisition by China’s Shuanghui International will impact that company’s share of the U.S. market also remains to be seen.
Companies holding less than 1% of the market share made up 47% of the U.S. meat and poultry market in 2012, while private label products accounted for an additional 4%. The remainder of the market was divided among the following nine companies:
JBS/Swift – 20%
Hormel – 10%
National Beef – 8%
Cargill – 3%
Kraft – 2%
Tyson – 2%
Hillshire – 2%
Perdue – 1%
Smithfield – 1%
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