Top 100
 
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The goal ofMEAT+POULTRY’s annual Top 100 listing is to provide an overview of the meat and poultry processing industry’s leading companies doing business in North America based on annual sales and to include any changes among them resulting from mergers, acquisitions or closures. The process takes countless hours of emailing, faxing and phone calls followed by many hours of compiling and analyzing the data. Slight position shifts are typical from year to year, based on sales as reported by the company or alternatively, as estimated by in-house research of the company’s sales.

 

Companies featured in this year’s Top 100 ranking range from $38.3 billion in annual sales at the top of the list (Tyson Foods Inc.) down to $136 million in sales (Granny’s Poultry Cooperative Ltd.). The Top 10 spots in the 2018 ranking were occupied by the same 10 companies as 2017, with most of them staying in the same ranking positions regardless of individual sales increases during the year.

The Top 10 spots belong to Tyson Foods, Inc. ($38.3 billion); JBS USA ($33.6 billion); Cargill Meat Solutions ($20 billion); Sysco Corp. ($16.48 billion); Smithfield Foods Inc. ($15 billion); Hormel Foods Corp. ($9.2 billion); Conagra Brands ($8.2 billion); National Beef Packing Co. LLC ($7.4 billion); OSI Group, LLC ($6.13 billion); and Sigma Alimentos S.A. de C.V. ($5.7 billion).

The total sales for all 100 companies in this year’s Top 100 listing represent more than $246.8 billion, up slightly from last year’s $242.4 billion. Sixty-five percent of those sales come from the Top 10 companies (the combined sales figures equal $160 billion).

While many Americans still enjoy a hearty helping of protein at the center of their plate, there are still a number of unknowns each year in the meat business. Regardless of the challenges, and the peaks and valleys of business, the Top 100 companies managed to stay on track and in many cases move ahead, thanks to quality products, effective business strategies, talented executives leading the way and invaluable team members throughout the ranks.

See the entire Top 100 ranking as well as other feature stories in the March issue of MEAT+POULTRY.