Smithfield Foods, Inc.
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Meat processing |
| Founded | Smithfield, Virginia, United States (1936) |
| Founder | Joseph W. Luter, Sr. Joseph W. Luter, Jr. |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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Kenneth M. Sullivan (CEO) |
| Products |
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| Brands | Cook's, Eckrich, Gwaltney, John Morrell, Krakus, and Smithfield, among others. |
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Production output
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|
| Revenue |
 US$14.4 billion (2015) |
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US$793.8 million (2015) |
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US$452.3 million (2015) |
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| Total assets |
US$9.9 billion (2015) |
| Total equity |
 US$4.8 billion (2015) |
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Number of employees
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50,200 (2016) |
| Parent | WH Group, Luohe, Henan province, China |
| Website | www |
Smithfield Foods, Inc., is a meat-processing company and wholly owned subsidiary of WH Group of China. Founded as the Smithfield Packing Company in 1936 by Joseph W. Luter and his son in Smithfield, Virginia, the company is said to be the largest pig and pork producer in the world. Its 973,000-square-foot meat-processing plant in Tar Heel, North Carolina, was reported in 2000 to be the world's largest, processing 32,000 pigs a day. The company had 50,200 employees globally in 2016 and an annual revenue of $14 billion, with facilities in several U.S. states, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Germany, and the UK.
WH Group, then known as Shuanghui Group, purchased Smithfield Foods in 2013 for $4.72 billion, more than its market value. It was the largest Chinese acquisition of an American company to date. 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.
Smithfield Foods began its growth in 1981 with the purchase of Gwaltney of Smithfield, followed by the acquisition of nearly 40 companies between then and 2008, including Eckrich; Farmland Foods of Kansas; John Morrell; Murphy Family Farms of North Carolina; Circle Four Farms of Utah; and Premium Standard Farms. 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.
As of 2006 Smithfield raised 15 million pigs a year and processed 27 million, producing over six billion pounds of pork. It was the top pig-slaughter operation in the United States in 2007, at 114,300 pigs a day, and along with three other companies slaughtered 56 percent of the cattle processed there until it sold its beef group in 2008. Smithfield sells its products under several brand names, including Cook's, Eckrich, Gwaltney, John Morrell, Krakus, and Smithfield. Kenneth M. Sullivan became the president and chief executive officer in 2015.
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Wikipedia