Meat + Poultry - November 2010 - 8

Commentary
BY JOEL CREWS
jcrews@sosland.com

Benefitting from hindsight
Ten years ago this month, George
W. Bush was elected as the 43rd
President of the United States, the
New York Yankees were basking in
the glow of winning the World Series and I was the newest addition to
Meat&Poultry's masthead. Before
being hired as managing editor, I
had worked as a reporter for numerous newspapers during college, and
after graduating I was a staff writer
covering local business news in the
Kansas City area for several years. I
was optimistic that my background,
combined with a stint working in the
restaurant management field, adequately armed me with the basic tools
to cover the meat-processing trade.
Lucky for me at the time, I didn't
yet know how much I didn't know.
When I arrived on the scene,
Dan Glickman was the secretary
of agriculture; Wayne Britt had recently announced his retirement as
CEO of Tyson Foods; Mandatory
Price Reporting legislation was being hotly debated; and Tyson Foods
and Smithfield Foods were embroiled
in a bidding war to acquire IBP, inc.,
which played out for months before
a court forced Tyson's hand.
A flurry of mergers and acquisitions marked the beginning of 2001,
including Hormel's acquisition of
The Turkey Store, Smithfield's purchase of Moyer Packing, Packerland
Packing, RMH Foods and more.
Later that year, Japan's beef industry was rocked by the discovery of
bovine spongiform encephalopathy within its borders while the UK
reeled from a devastating outbreak
of foot-and-mouth disease. The most
devastating development of all was,
of course, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, which forever changed the
business landscape in the US, and
jarred the country's sense of security.
The years that followed were no
less eventful for the processing industry as recalls of millions of pounds
of products by Pilgrim's Pride in

2002 and ground beef recalled by
ConAgra Beef Co. pushed legislators
and processors to ramp up efforts to
control pathogens while companies
like Farmland Industries fi led for
bankruptcy protection. Next came
the infamous discoveries of BSE in
2003, first in Canada and then in the
US, after a single cow in Washington
state tested positive. It was also during this time that chatter about rising
obesity rates began getting the attention of food companies, while consumers by the droves tried out lowcarb diets. At that time, companies
like Triumph Foods were breaking
ground on new $130-million-plus
processing plants and processors
were having preliminary discussions
with lawmakers about the implications of Country of Origin Labeling proposals. In the years to come,
challenges to processors included
more animal diseases, including avian influenza, more foot-and-mouth
disease abroad and more recently,
H1N1. Meanwhile a Brazilian juggernaut swooped into the market and,
in 2007, acquired Swift & Co., and
since then, several other US-based
processing institutions. We've seen
Smithfield get out of the beef business, Tyson get into the renewable
fuels business and Seaboard Foods
invest millions in a turkey business.
To say that over the past 10 years
I've seen everything couldn't be farther from the truth. But having a
front row seat has given me an appreciation of how today's news and
trends fit into the big picture and
influence Meat&Poultry's coverage
of the industry each month. I realize
and respect how much there still is to
know about this business and what
an honor it is to follow this industry
and its leaders through the ups and
downs of what is never a dull ride. ■
We would like to hear from you - to
comment on this story or to request reprints,
contact us by e-mail at meatpoultry@
sosland.com.

8 * Meat&Poultry * November 2010 * www.MeatPoultry.com

Meat Poultry
EDITORIAL STAFF
Editor

Joel Crews
Executive Editor

Keith Nunes
Senior Editor

Bryan Salvage
Managing Editor

Kimberlie Clyma
Contributing Editors

Richard Alaniz
Steve Bjerklie
Dr. Temple Grandin
Steve Krut
Bernard Shire

Larry Aylward
Dr. David Theno
Steve Kay
Leo Quigley
Dr. Glen Miller

Online Editor

Erica Shaffer
Graphic Designer

Mike Gunther

PUBLISHING STAFF
Chairman and Group Publisher

Charles S. Sosland
Vice-Chairman

L. Joshua Sosland
President, Publishing Director

Mark Sabo
Publisher

Dave Crost
North American Sales Director

Bruce Brown
Publisher Emeritus

Mike Alaimo

BUSINESS/PRODUCTION STAFF
Vice-President & Chief Financial Officer

Melanie Hepperly
Audience Development Director

Don Keating
Director of E-Business

Jon Hall
Director of On-line Advertising and Promotions

Carrie Fluegge
Promotions Manager

Alissa Nower
Circulation Manager

Judy Arnone
Design Services Manager

Sadowna Conarroe
Manager of Advertising Design

Becky White
Classified Sales Representative

Lily O'Kane
Classified Designer

Steve Piatt
Digital Systems Analyst

Marj Potts
Advertising Manager

Nora Wages
Advertising Materials Coordinator

Sharon Alexander
Sales: dcrost@sosland.com
Editorial: jcrews@sosland.com
www.MeatPoultry.com
Address editorial correspondence to:
Editor, Meat&Poultry, 4800 Main Street,
Suite 100, Kansas City, MO 64112.
Phone: (816) 756-1000 Fax: (816) 756-0494
Letters via e-mail can be sent to meatpoultry@
sosland.com. Letters may also be sent via fax to
(816) 756-0494. The Editor reserves the right to
edit letters for length, content and clarity.
Requests for reprints of articles should be sent
to reprints@sosland.com or call Alissa Nower
at (816) 756-1000.

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f,,BPA

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a division of Sosland Companies, Inc.

Meat + Poultry - November 2010

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