U.S. poultry manufacturing industry includes nearly 300 companies with combined annual revenue of more than US$50B, report says; 50 largest companies account for more than 90% of revenue

Andrew Rogers

DUBLIN , August 24, 2012 (press release) – Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Poultry Product Manufacturing" report to their offering.

The US poultry product manufacturing industry includes about 300 companies with combined annual revenue of more than $50 billion. Major companies include Perdue Incorporated, Pilgrim's Pride, Tyson Foods, and Sanderson Farms. The industry is highly concentrated: the 50 largest companies account for more than 90 percent of revenue.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand is driven by domestic meat consumption trends and export markets. The profitability of individual companies depends on efficient production and distribution. Big companies have economies of scale in production and distribution. Small companies can compete successfully by serving a limited geographical area or by producing a specialized product.

PRODUCTS, OPERATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

Major products are fresh or frozen young chickens (about 60 percent of industry revenue) and processed poultry or meat products (about 25 percent). Other products include turkeys and birds such as ducks, geese, and Cornish hens.

Chickens grown for eating (rather than laying eggs) are called broilers. About 9 billion broilers are produced in the US each year; the average broiler weighs 5 pounds. About 300 million turkeys are produced each year; the average turkey weighs 25 pounds. The large producers use industrial techniques that have been developed to produce chicken products at the lowest possible cost. These involve large feeding operations - using chicken breeds that efficiently turn feed into meat - and large distribution systems that can rapidly put fresh chicken parts on supermarket shelves.

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