Meat+Poultry - December 2017 - 8

COMMENTARY

Perspectives from 2017
The year that was 2017 was my
17th year with MEAT+POULTRY
and, in many regards, was the most
memorable one yet. Like most years
in the meat and poultry processing
industry, there was a blend of good,
bad and ugly news that made this year
one I'll never forget. In this issue, we
recap some of the biggest news of the
year, but there are many more stories
that developed before, during and
after those headlines that are equally
as compelling and will forever be a
part of the history that was 2017.
As is the case every year, the
industry lost some of its most
impactful and well-respected people
during the year. Among the losses,
Lonnie "Bo" Pilgrim, co-founder of
Pilgrim's Pride Corp., passed away
at the age of 89 this past July. The
industry also collectively mourned the
death of Dave Theno, Ph.D., who was
known as "the man who saved Jack in
the Box," who died during a swimming
accident in June at the much-tooyoung age of 66. More recently, Kelly
Hattan, president of Daily's Premium
Meats died while in Chicago attending
an industry trade show in September.
It's never easy to accept the loss of
friends and colleagues in our tightly

knit industry and having had the honor
of meeting and working with Theno
and Hattan and knowing well the
reputation of Bo Pilgrim, I will always
respect and miss these titans and the
many others that passed away this
past year.
Another year of leadership
changes, including the country's commander in chief, also triggered periods
of transition in the meat and poultry
industry. One example was Tom Hayes
taking the torch from Donnie Smith
as CEO of Tyson Foods on the first
day of 2017. Few would argue that
the transition was seamless, and that
Hayes embraced his role and was a
bold change agent in his inaugural
year, which was a record one for
Tyson by most measures. Likewise,
2017 saw James Snee put a ribbon on
his first year as CEO of Hormel Foods
Corp., a role he assumed when Jeff
Ettinger retired in late 2016. Snee has
continued to lead Hormel through
acquisitions, international growth and
a variety of innovative products in the
healthy category.
Other moves in the meat and
poultry industry that caught many
of us in the industry by surprise
included the announced retirement of
the US Dept. of Agriculture's deputy
undersecretary and administrator
of its Food Safety and Inspection
Service, Alfred Almanza. A veteran
of the USDA, Almanza stepped down

from his position on July 31 and
almost immediately transitioned to
a role working in the industry, as
the Global Head of Food Safety and
Quality of Assurance with JBS SA.
The foodservice segment saw its share
of shake-ups as well, including the
recent announcement that Chipotle
founder and CEO Steve Ells would be
stepping down.
This year's acquisition activity
was brisk and involved processing
companies and some other deals
that will affect food companies of
all kinds. The deal perhaps raising
the most eyebrows, was Amazon's
acquisition of Whole Foods Market
Inc. for $13.7 billion. The other deals
are too many to list, but included
Pilgrim's Pride Corp.'s acquisition of
Moy Park, Tyson Foods' announced
acquisition of Original Philly Holdings
and Hormel Foods acquisition of
Columbus Manufacturing.
There is never a shortage of news or
topics to fill the print and web pages of
MEAT+POULTRY and this year was no
exception. On behalf of the publishing
staff of MEAT+POULTRY, I thank
our loyal readers, many of whom we
interact with on a daily basis through
our online offerings and our monthly
printed news coverage and features.
We look forward to an eventful year to
come and wish you a prosperous and
healthy 2018.
J O E L C R E WS, E D I TO R | j c r e w s @ s o s l a n d .c o m

Another year of leadership changes,
including the country's commander in
chief, also triggered periods of transition
in the meat and poultry industry.

8

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Meat+Poultry - December 2017

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