Meat + Poultry - June 2006 - 10

Business Notes
Tyson announces management
changes, $110 million in cuts
May was a busy month for Springdale, Ark.-based Tyson Foods, Inc.
Among the company's announcements
was the appointment of Richard Bond
as the company's president and C.E.O. Bond
replaced John Tyson,
who now serves as
chairman of the board.
Bond previously was
Tyson's president and
Bond
C.O.O., which was also
his position with IBP, Inc., before Tyson
acquired the Dakota Dunes, S.D.-based
company in 2001.
"The new Tyson Foods
is almost five years old
now, and Dick has
earned the opportunity to serve as our
new chief executive,"
John Tyson said.
Just days after his appointment was announced, Bond
outlined his strategy for returning the
company to profitability, which included
a plan to reduce spending by $110 million. The head of every area of the company was given one month to conduct
in-depth reviews of its staffi ng, programs, reports, information requests,
travel and entertainment expenses, and
consulting fees as well as to find other
opportunities for improvement.
Bond proposed three measures to aid

the company in returning to profitability. First, Bond wants to see a "sense of
urgency" in the company's approach to
its commodity businesses. He also said
he wants the company to focus on money-making activities that provide topline growth. Finally, Bond announced
plans to implement improvements in
cost management and cost reduction.
Within a week of Bond's appointment, the company also announced
several other management changes.
Richard Greubel was hired as its international group vice president. Greubel
came to Tyson from Monsanto,
where he was president,
managing director and
commercial acceptance lead for Monsanto Brazil.
Greubel will replace Greg Huett, who
will remain in the position
until Greubel begins, around Aug. 1.
Huett will move to another leadership
position within the company.
In other developments, James Lochner was named senior group vice president of fresh meats and margin optimization, and Donnie Smith, who was
senior vice-president and chief information officer for Tyson Foods, assumed
the additional title of group vice president, information systems, purchasing
and distribution.

La Cense offering
natural beef
products online
Dillon, Mont.-based La Cense, one
of Montana's oldest cattle ranches,
has begun selling its all-natural beef
online at www.lacensebeef.com. La
Cense Beef is natural, grass-fed and
grass-finished beef produced from
Black Angus cattle raised on the
company's ranch.
The Black Angus cattle of La
Cense are raised approximately 18
months in a humane, stress-free,
environment and fed bluebunch
wheatgrass and plants found on
the 88,000 acre La Cense ranch.
La Cense cattle are raised without hormones or proactively given
antibiotics and spend their entire
lives grazing a pesticide-free natural environment.
According to the company, a 6ounce La Cense Beef steak has
about 100 fewer calories than a
similarly sized steak from a grainfed cow; is higher in levels of heart
healthy omega-3 fatty acids; is higher in levels of conjugated linoleic
acids, which have been shown to
help reduce the risk of several types
of cancer, diabetes, obesity and several immune disorders; and is higher in levels of beta-carotene, due to
the cattle's grass diet.

Colorado Premium to move to former Monfort Portions plant
Having purchased the former Monfort Portions Foods plant
from Swift & Co. this past month, officials with Colorado
Premium Foods are preparing to move its operations and 55
employees from Denver to the facility in Greeley next month.
According to reports, C.P.F. paid $1.2 million for the building, allowing it to triple the size of the current operation,
where it further processes beef, pork and poultry products.
The company is making about $500,000 in improvements to
the building before starting operations there in July.
10

MEAT&POULTRY

June 2006

www.MEATPOULTRY.com

Kevin LaFleur, a majority owner of the company along
with Don Babcock and David Spencer, said the ability to
grow into the new space is essential for C.P.F., which reportedly does about $40 million in sales annually.
Officials hope to add up to 50 jobs by the end of the year.
Premium Foods had been searching for a new plant for the
past two years when officials discovered the Monfort building was recently put on the market after being closed for approximately seven years.

http://www.lacensebeef.com http://www.MEATPOULTRY.com

Meat + Poultry - June 2006

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