JBS USA#Swift & Company
{{Short description|American meat processor}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox company
| name = JBS USA Holdings, Inc.
| logo = 200px
| type = Subsidiary
| genre =
| foundation = {{start date and age|1855}}
| founder =
| location_city = Greeley, Colorado
| location_country = U.S.
| location =
| locations =
| subsid = Plumrose USA, Pilgrim's, Primo Smallgoods
| key_people = Wesley Batista Filho (CEO)
| num_employees = 78,000+
| industry = Meatpacking
| products =
| revenue = {{profit}} US$27.8 billion (2017)
| parent = JBS S.A.
| caption =
| homepage = {{URL|jbsfoodsgroup.com/}}
| footnotes =
| intl =
}}
JBS USA Holdings, Inc. is a meat processing company and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Brazilian multinational JBS S.A. The subsidiary was created when JBS entered the U.S. market in 2007 with its purchase of Swift & Company.
JBS USA is based in Greeley, Colorado.{{cite web| url=http://www.jbssa.com/ContactUs/default.aspx| title=Contact us| publisher=JBS USA| access-date=2013-05-17}} Its competitors include Hormel Foods, Cargill, Smithfield Foods, National Beef, and Tyson Foods.
History
=Swift & Company=
File:Swift frigorifico la plata 1920.jpg, Argentina, c. 1920]]
File:Swift's Silverleaf Brand Pure Lard, 1916.jpg
Swift & Company operations can be traced back to 1855, when 16-year-old Gustavus Franklin Swift founded a butchering operation in Eastham, Massachusetts.{{cite web| title=About Eastham, Massachusetts| url=http://www.eastham-ma.gov/Public_Documents/EasthamMA_WebDocs/about| publisher=Town of Eastham, Massachusetts| access-date=2013-05-17| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140712080645/http://www.eastham-ma.gov/Public_Documents/EasthamMA_WebDocs/about| archive-date=2014-07-12| url-status=dead}} Its early origins on Cape Cod led later to locations in Brighton (in Massachusetts), and Albany, and Buffalo, New York. In 1875, Swift and Company was incorporated in Chicago. Swift and Armour and Company acquired a two-thirds controlling interest in the Fort Worth Stockyards in 1902.{{cite web |title=Swift and Company |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/dis02 |website=Handbook of Texas |publisher=Texas State Historical Association|access-date=25 September 2016}} That same year, an antitrust lawsuit was filed against Swift for conspiring with other companies to control the meatpacking industry. The companies attempted to merge to avoid the suit, leading to the 1905 Supreme Court case of Swift & Co. v. United States.
By the 1920s Swift and Company operated their largest and most modern meat processing plant in South St Paul, Minnesota. The purpose of this plant was to slaughter and process cattle, hogs, and sheep. These animals were procured by the company buyers at the adjacent St. Paul Union Stockyards. The live animals were driven across overhead ramps to the killing floors. Swift processed fresh, smoked, table-ready, canned meats, such as PREM, and baby foods, along with soap, lard, shortening, adhesives, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, fertilizers, hides and animal feeds. Operations were discontinued at the South St. Paul Plant effective November 29, 1969.
In addition to meatpacking, Swift sold various dairy and grocery items, including Swiftning shortening, Allsweet margarine, Brookfield butter, cheese under the Brookfield, Pauly, and Treasure Cave brands, and Peter Pan peanut butter. Swift began selling frozen turkeys under the Butterball brand in 1954. Gustavus Swift also championed the refrigerated railroad car.
=<span id="Esmark"></span>Esmark and ConAgra=
In the 1960s, Swift expanded into other fields, including insurance and petroleum, and formed the holding company Esmark in 1973. Two years later, Esmark bought International Playtex from Meshulam Riklis' Rapid-American Corporation. Esmark sold off Globe Life Insurance to the Ryan Insurance Group in 1977.{{cite news|title=Globe Life pact|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1977/04/06/page/54/article/globe-life-pact|access-date=26 September 2016|agency=Chicago Tribune|date=April 6, 1977}}
Esmark left the petroleum business in 1980, selling Vickers Petroleum to Mobil, while Swift's fresh-meat business was spun off as a separate company, Swift Independent Packing Company (SIPCO), the same year.{{cite news|title=Swift's three Iowa pork plants stay open in sale, reorganization|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/128743192/|access-date=27 September 2016|agency=The Des Moines Register|date=27 June 1980}} Esmark went on to purchase Norton Simon Inc. in 1983 before being purchased by Beatrice Foods the next year. ConAgra purchased 50% of SIPCO in 1987 and the remaining portion in 1989, the same year ConAgra bought Beatrice Foods.{{cite web| title=Swift & Company History| url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/swift-company-history/| publisher=Funding Universe| access-date=2016-08-28}} ConAgra merged SIPCO's operations with that of Monfort, the meatpacker it had purchased in 1987, and the division was renamed Swift & Company in 1995.
In 2002, ConAgra sold a majority stake in Swift & Company to Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst, a Dallas-based private-equity firm, and Booth Creek Management.{{Cite news|title = Hicks Muse Group to Buy Stake In ConAgra Meatpacking Unit|url = https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1022040357463350960|work = The Wall Street Journal|date=22 May 2002|access-date = 28 August 2016}} Hicks, Muse bought the remainder of ConAgra's stake in 2004.{{cite web| title=ConAgra Foods Receives $194 Million for Equity Interest, Expects to Receive $300 Million for Certain Assets| url=http://www.conagrafoods.com/news-room/news-ConAgra-Foods-Receives-194-Million-for-Equity-Interest--Expects-to-Receive-300-Million-for-Certain-Assets-1008468| publisher=ConAgra (press release)| access-date=2016-08-28}}
=Purchase by JBS=
On July 12, 2007, JBS purchased Swift & Company in a US$1.5-billion, all-cash deal. The acquisition made the newly consolidated JBS Swift Group the largest beef processor in the world. Prior to the deal, JBS had a market capitalization of US$4.2 billion and sales revenue of $2.1 billion, and operated in 23 plants in Brazil and five in Argentina.
On July 11, 2007, the Swift companies had also completed several tender offers and consent solicitations for financing notes. These included {{frac|10|1|8}}% senior notes due 2009 and {{frac|12|1|2}}% senior subordinated notes due January 1, 2010, both issued by Swift & Company, 11% senior notes due 2010 issued by S&C Holdco 3 and {{frac|10|1|4}}% convertible senior subordinated notes due 2010 issued by Swift Foods Company.
In 2008, JBS purchased the beef operations of Smithfield Foods for $565 million.{{Cite news|title = JBS to buy Green Bay's Smithfield Beef, other beef producers|url = http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2008/03/03/daily35.html|work = Milwaukee Business Journal|date=March 5, 2008|access-date = August 28, 2016}} JBS also announced in 2008 its intention to buy National Beef Packing Company for $560 million, but canceled the plan after the U.S. Department of Justice raised antitrust concerns.{{Cite news|title = Brazil's JBS Pulls Deal to Buy National Beef|url = https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123515996745635545|work = The Wall Street Journal|date=February 21, 2009|first=Lauren|last=Etter|access-date = August 28, 2016}}
In 2009, JBS USA acquired 63% of Pilgrim's Pride{{cite web| title=Chicken Brands| url=http://www.jbssa.com/Brands/Chicken/default.aspx| publisher=JBS| access-date=2013-05-17}} Chicken Company and shortened the name to simply Pilgrim's. JBS subsequently increased its ownership share to 75.3%.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}
In 2009, JBS USA Holdings filed notice with the SEC that it desired to float an IPO, and listed 38 subsidiaries. Four accounting firms were listed on the Prospectus, the last to file being BDO Seidman LLP based in Dallas, Texas on 21 July 2009. On 22 July 2009, BDO filed notice with the SEC that unaudited statements had been filed and that they were not endorsed by BDO.{{cite news |title=Form S-1 - General form for registration of securities under the Securities Act of 1933:SEC Accession No. 0001193125-09-153228 |url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1467955/000119312509153228/0001193125-09-153228-index.html |publisher=SEC |date=22 July 2009}} This torpedoed the 2009 IPO of JBS USA.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}
On October 18, 2012, JBS USA announced it would take over management of XL Foods' Lakeside beefpacking plant in Brooks, Alberta, for 60 days with an exclusive option to buy XL Foods' Canada and U.S. operations. On January 14, 2013, JBS USA completed the purchase of the Brooks facility, a second XL beef facility in Calgary, Alberta, and a feedyard.{{Cite news|title = JBS USA Will Complete XL Purchases in Canada on Monday|url = http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2013/01/jbs-usa-will-complete-xl-purchases-on-monday/|work = Food Safety News|location=Seattle|access-date = January 9, 2016}}
In July 2015, JBS USA purchased the U.S. pork processing business of Cargill Meat Solutions for $1.45 billion.{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/jbs-to-buy-cargills-u-s-pork-business-for-1-45-billion-1435784116 |title=JBS to Buy Cargill's U.S. Pork Business for $1.45 Billion |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date=July 1, 2015 |access-date=August 28, 2016 |first=Luciana |last=Magalhaes}}
Immigration raids
{{Main|Swift raids}}
In December 2006, six of the company's meat-packing facilities in Colorado, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Iowa, and Minnesota were raided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, resulting in the apprehension of 1,282 undocumented immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Peru, Laos, Sudan, and Ethiopia, and nearly 200 of them were criminally charged after a ten-month investigation into identity theft.{{cite news| url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/immigration-agents-raid-plants-in-6-states/| title=Immigrations and Customs Enforcement raids Swift & Co. plants in 6 states| work=CBS News| date=12 December 2006| access-date=2013-05-17}}{{cite web |last1=Kammer |first1=Jerry |title=The 2006 Swift Raids: Assessing the Impact of Immigration Enforcement Actions at Six Facilities |url=https://cis.org/Report/2006-Swift-Raids |website=Center for Immigration Studies |access-date=19 January 2023 |date=18 March 2009}}
Amazon deforestation and net-zero pledge
In March 2021, JBS pledged to reach net-zero greenhouse emissions by 2040- the first global meat company to do so. This followed evidence from investigative journalist Dom Phillips of links in the JBS supply chain to illegal deforestation in the Amazon.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/25/brazil-meat-giant-jbs-vows-net-zero-by-2040-amid-record-profits|title=Brazil meat giant JBS vows net zero by 2040 amid record profits|website=theguardian.com|date=25 March 2021 }} The company pledged to eliminate illegal deforestation, including in the threatened Cerrado region, from its supply chains by 2030.
In March 2024, New York Attorney General Letitia James sued JBS USA for violating the state's general business laws on deceptive practices and false advertising. The lawsuit alleges that since a majority of Americans prefer and are willing to pay more for net-zero products, JBS initiated its "Net Zero by 2040" marketing campaign before even identifying its Scope 3 emissions arising from the full supply chain of meat production.{{Cite news |last=Thomas |first=Patrick |title=New York Attorney General Sues Meatpacker JBS Over Climate Claims |url=https://www.wsj.com/business/new-york-attorney-general-sues-meatpacker-jbs-over-climate-claims-e900f75d |access-date=2024-04-13 |work=The Wall Street Journal |language=en-US}} At the 2023 Climate Week NYC event, JBS S.A. CEO Gilberto Tomazoni was questioned by New York Times reporter David Gelles over the Better Business Bureau's determination that JBS' net zero marketing was unsubstantiated, given that the company lacked specific planning to execute on this goal.{{Cite web |last=Dutkiewicz |first=Jan |date=2024-03-08 |title=Why New York is suing the world's biggest meat company |url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2024/3/8/24093774/big-meat-jbs-lawsuit-greenwashing-climate-new-york |access-date=2024-04-13 |website=Vox |language=en}}
Food safety and quality issues
On June 24, 2009, the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced that JBS Swift Beef Company, a Greeley, Colorado, establishment, recalled about {{convert|41280|lb|kg|abbr=on}} of beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. By June 30, the recall included over {{convert|421000|lb|kg|abbr=on}}.{{cite news| url=http://www.about-ecoli.com/ecoli_outbreaks/news/battling-a-july-fourth-beef-recall/| title=Battling A July Fourth Beef Recall| work=ABC News| author=Kate Barrett| date=30 June 2009| publisher=about-ecoli.com| access-date=2013-05-17}} The beef products were produced on April 21 and 22, 2009, and were shipped to distributors and retail establishments in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin.{{cite press release| url=http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/Recall_034_2009_ReleaSe/index.asp| publisher=USDA FSIS| date=24 June 2009| title=Colorado Firm Recalls Beef Products Due To Possible E. coli O157:H7 Contamination| access-date=2013-05-17| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130531073721/http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_%26_Events/Recall_034_2009_Release/index.asp| archive-date=31 May 2013| url-status=dead}}
On November 4, 2010, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration ordered JBS Carriers, a subsidiary of JBS, to install electronic on-board recorders on their trucks after a compliance review found "serious violation" of federal hours of service.{{cite press release| url=http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/about/news/news-releases/2010/JBS-Carriers.aspx| title=FMCSA Orders JBS Carriers to Install Electronic On-Board Recorders on its Entire Fleet of Commercial Trucks for Violating Hours-of-Service and Other Federal Safety Regulations| date=4 November 2010| publisher=FMCSA| access-date=2013-05-17| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515012556/http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/about/news/news-releases/2010/JBS-Carriers.aspx| archive-date=15 May 2013| url-status=dead}}
On December 2, 2010, JBS announced that it would use Arrowsight, a remote video auditing company, to monitor proper sanitation to prevent cross contamination during processing. They also use Arrowsight to monitor their live cattle for proper animal welfare practices. These programs have shown great success.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/politics|title=Bloomberg Politics - Bloomberg|website=Bloomberg.com}}
The Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration assessed a $175,000 civil penalty against JBS/Swift on December 22, 2010, for violations of the Packers and Stockyards Act by failing to disclose when missing Fat-O-Meat’er data had prevented JBS from calculating the lean percentage of a particular pork carcass or carcasses in a seller's lot, and substituting an undisclosed lean value for pork carcasses with missing data when calculating carcass-merit payment for hogs delivered to JBS’ Worthington, MN, Marshalltown, IA, and Louisville, KY, processing plants. The Packers and Stockyards Act is a fair trade practice and payment protection law that promotes fair and competitive marketing environments for the livestock, meat, and poultry industries.{{cite press release| title=JBS USA, LLC, fka Swift & Company and Swift Pork Company Is Assessed a Civil Penalty in the Amount of $175,000| url=http://www.gipsa.usda.gov/Newrelease/2011/01-06-11.pdf| date=6 January 2011| publisher=USDA GIPSA| access-date=2013-05-17| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130307024059/http://www.gipsa.usda.gov/Newrelease/2011/01-06-11.pdf| archive-date=7 March 2013| url-status=dead}}
Money from USDA intended for farmers
In 2019, the Trump administration allocated US$62.4 million to JBS USA from a fund intended to help U.S. farmers affected by the trade war with China.{{cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/07/us/politics/farm-bailout-jbs.html | title=Farm Bailout Paid to Brazilian Meat Processor Angers Lawmakers | work=The New York Times | date=February 7, 2020 | last1=Haberman | first1=Maggie | last2=Rappeport | first2=Alan }} The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a contract in the same year to purchase US$22.3 million worth of pork from the company. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue and Attorney General Jeff Sessions requested the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate a possible case of corruption. There were also indications that JBS benefited from trade tensions with increased sales in China. JBS stated that despite being a foreign company, it supports American farmers by creating job opportunities. In May 2019, Representative Rosa DeLauro from Connecticut claimed that President Donald Trump was unaware of the situation.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-trump-administration-bailout-farmers-brazilian-criminals-20190516-6rdb3ithvfec7fttem7qrny54y-story.html|title=Trump administration showers Brazilian crooks with $62M bailout money meant for struggling U.S. farmers|date=May 16, 2019|accessdate=May 5, 2022|website=New York Daily News|publisher=Chris Sommerfeldt|language=en|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20220505105504/https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-trump-administration-bailout-farmers-brazilian-criminals-20190516-6rdb3ithvfec7fttem7qrny54y-story.html|archivedate=May 5, 2022}}{{update needed|date=October 2024}}
Cyberattack
JBS USA was the target of a cyberattack in May 2021.{{cite news |last1=Batista |first1=Fabiana |last2=Hirtzer |first2=Michael |last3=Dorning |first3=Mike |title=All of JBS's U.S. Beef Plants Were Forced Shut by Cyberattack |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-31/meat-is-latest-cyber-victim-as-hackers-hit-top-supplier-jbs?sref=CIpmV6x8 |access-date=1 June 2021 |work=www.bloomberg.com}} The attack disrupted all JBS facilities in the United States.
Price-fixing allegations
In 2022, JBS agreed to a $52.5 million settlement without admission of wrongdoing in a lawsuit brought by grocers and wholesalers, which accused JBS, National Beef, Cargill, and Tyson of working together to drive up the price of beef.{{cite web | url=https://apnews.com/article/business-lawsuits-prices-beef-markets-394112b62cb6301ff740e3247971eb3d | title=Beef giant JBS to pay $52.5M to settle price-fixing lawsuit | website=Associated Press News | date=February 3, 2022 }} In 2024, McDonald's Corporation sued JBS and the same three other companies along with their subsidiaries for alleged price fixing.{{cite web | url=https://apnews.com/article/mcdonalds-sues-meat-packers-beef-price-fixing-6ea9d046eb711fd2a93d03305fa07882 | title=McDonald's sues top meat packers for allegedly colluding to inflate the price of beef | website=Associated Press News | date=October 8, 2024 }}
See also
- Cactus, Texas, location of a JBS meatpacking plant
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the meat industry in the United States
- Porter Jarvis, chairman and president of Swift & Co., 1955–1967
- Swift Packing Company building (Sioux City, Iowa), listed in the National Register of Historic Places (demolished)
- Swift Refrigerator Line
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Swift & Company}}
- [https://jbssa.com/ Official website]
- [http://www.accademiadellatrippa.com/pubblicazioni_for_variety.php Booklet "For Variety" with Swift & Company recipes]
- [http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/swift-company-history/ Swift & Company History]
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00EwiKZ_k1I/ A Nations Meat. 1940 Swift & Company promotional film]
{{Omaha Stockyards}}
{{Portal bar|Colorado|Companies|Food}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:JBS S.A. subsidiaries
Category:American companies established in 1855
Category:Food and drink companies established in 1855
Category:Meat packing companies based in Omaha, Nebraska
Category:Food manufacturers of the United States
Category:Meat processing in the United States
Category:Companies based in Greeley, Colorado
Category:Former components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average
Category:American subsidiaries of foreign companies
Category:1855 establishments in Massachusetts