Poultry Product Manufacturing Industry Profile

Companies in this industry slaughter and process poultry and small game. Major companies include Perdue Incorporated, Pilgrim's Pride, Sanderson Farms, and Tyson Foods.

The US poultry product manufacturing industry includes about 300 companies with combined annual revenue of more than $50 billion and is expected to grow at a moderate rate over the next two years. Growth drivers include value-added products and increasing demand for exports.

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. The industry is highly concentrated: the 50 largest companies account for more than 90 percent of revenue.

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 ...