meat processing founded smithfield virginia united states 1936 1936 founder joseph w. luter sr. joseph w. luter jr. area served worldwide products meat processing pork products production output raises 15 million pigs per year produces six billion pounds of pork revenue us 14.4 billion 2012 1 operating income us 793.8 million 2015 1 net income us 452.3 million 2015 1 total assets us 9.9 billion 2015 1 total equity us 4.8 billion 2015 1 number of employees 50 200 2016 1 parent shuanghui group subsidiaries subsidiaries agriplus poland agroindustrial del noroeste mexico animex poland carolina food processors cumberland gap provision co. eckrich farmland foods granjas carroll de m xico john morrell & company murphy brown norson mexico north side foods corp. premium standard farms smithfield ferme comtim group romania smithfield packing company smithfield prod romania smithfield foods uk formerly ridpath pek and the norwich food company smithfield foods international group smithfield specialty foods group smithfield premium genetics group website www.smithfieldfoods.com smithfield foods inc. is an american meat processing company . headquartered in smithfield virginia it runs facilities in 26 u.s. states including the largest slaughterhouse and meat processing plant in the world located in tar heel north carolina . 2 it also has operations in mexico and in 10 european countries with a global total of over 46 000 employees and an annual revenue of 14 billion . 1 smithfield was purchased in 2013 by chinese based and state owned holding company shuanghui international holdings ltd. 3 shuanghui group 4 is the world s largest pork producer and processor . 2 smithfield was founded in 1936 by joseph w. luter and his son as the smithfield packing company now its largest subsidiary . from 1981 it began to purchase companies such as eckrich farmland foods of kansas gwaltney of smithfield john morrell murphy family farms of north carolina and premium standard farms . 5 it was able to grow as a result of its highly industrialized pig production raising the animals using a vertical integration system of production that enables the company to control their development from conception to packing . thousands of livestock are housed together in barns with metal roofs known as concentrated animal feeding operations where they are permanently confined . 6 the company raises around 15 million pigs a year and processes 27 million producing over six billion pounds of pork . 7 it was the top pig slaughter operation in the united states in 2007 at 114 300 pigs a day and along with three other companies slaughtered 56 % of the cattle processed there until it sold its beef group in 2008 . 8 smithfield sells its products under a variety of brand names including cook s ham gwaltney john morrell krakus ham patrick cudahy smithfield and stefano s. kenneth m. sullivan is the president and chief executive officer . 9 contents 1 company profile 2 pig production 2.1 vertical integration 2.2 housing and lagoons 2.3 pregnant sows 3 environmental and animal welfare record 3.1 emissions 3.1.1 company response 3.2 use of antibiotics 3.3 operations in mexico 3.4 packaging reduction 3.5 2010 humane society investigation 4 legal and labor issues 4.1 working conditions 4.2 union dispute 4.3 justice department penalty 5 philanthropy 6 sports sponsorships 7 governance 8 see also 9 notes 10 references 11 further reading company profile edit the company traces its history to 1936 when joseph w. luter sr. and his son joseph w. luter jr. opened the smithfield packing company in smithfield virginia . the latter served as chief executive officer ceo until his death in 1962 . a grandson joseph w. luter iii joined the company the same year and in 1966 became chairman and ceo until smithfield was taken over by liberty equities in 1969 . the company hired luter again as ceo in 1975 when it found itself in financial difficulties . his restructuring of the company is credited with its improved performance and he remains on the board of directors . 2 his son joseph w. luter iv is an executive vice president of smithfield foods and president of the smithfield packing company the parent company s largest subsidiary . 9 smithfield foods corporate information governance board of directors joseph w. luter iii c. larry pope carol t. crawford richard t. crowder margaret g. lewis wendell h. murphy david c. nelson frank s. royal john t. schwieters paul s. trible jr. corporate officers c. larry pope president and chief executive officer george h. richter president and chief operating officer pork group joseph w. luter iv executive vice president sales and marketing pork group robert w. manly iv executive vice president and chief financial officer dhamu thamodaran executive vice president and chief commodity hedging officer dennis h. treacy executive vice president and chief sustainability officer michael h. cole vice president chief legal officer and secretary jeffrey a. deel vice president and corporate controller timothy dykstra vice president and corporate treasurer bart ellis vice president operations analysis michael d. flemming vice president and corporate general counsel craig r. harlow vice president and internal audit keira l. lombardo vice president of investor relations and corporate communications henry l. morris senior corporate vice president operations and engineering parul stevens vice president of risk management kenneth m. sullivan senior vice president of finance and chief accounting officer vernon t. turner vice president corporate tax mansour t. zadeh chief information officer dariusz nowakowski president smithfield europe brands international animex aoste campofr o casa taraneasca cochonou comtim del mare jean caby justin bridou krakus marcassou mazury morliny nobre norson pek stegeman weight watchers yano united states armour basse s choice butterball former carando cook s ham curly s foods eckrich farmland genuine smithfield ham gwaltney healthy ones john morrell krakus ham kretschmar deli margherita patrick cudahy paula deen collection smithfield smithfield marketplace stefano s the peanut shop of williamsburg subsidiaries subsidiaries include agriplus poland agroindustrial del noroeste mexico animex poland carolina food processors cumberland gap provision co. eckrich farmland foods granjas carroll de m xico john morrell & company murphy brown norson mexico north side foods corp. premium standard farms smithfield ferme comtim group romania smithfield packing company smithfield prod romania smithfield foods uk formerly ridpath pek and the norwich food company smithfield foods international group smithfield specialty foods group locations locations include belgium france germany mexico perote veracruz netherlands poland portugal romania spain united kingdom norwich norfolk sudbury suffolk united states colorado idaho illinois iowa kentucky middlesboro missouri kansas city north carolina clinton dunn rose hill tar heel warsaw oklahoma pennsylvania south carolina south dakota sioux falls texas dallas utah virginia norfolk smithfield related portals agriculture animals companies environment v t e smithfield began to expand in 1981 with its purchase of its main competitor gwaltney of smithfield . this was followed by the acquisition of almost 40 companies in the pork beef and livestock industries between 1981 and around 2008 . 10 patrick cudahy was purchased in 1984 and schluderberg kurdle in 1986 . 9 in 1992 the company opened the world s largest processing plant a 973 000 square foot facility in tar heel north carolina which in 2000 could process 32 000 pigs a day . 11 it purchased john morrell & co in sioux falls sd in 1995 circle four farms in 1998 and in 1999 bought the two of the largest pig producers in the united states carroll s foods and murphy family farms of north carolina at that point the largest producer . jill hobbs and linda young write that smithfield s purchase of these companies constituted a major structural change in the u.s. pig industry . 12 farmland foods of kansas city was added in 2003 as were sara lee s european meats conagra foods refrigerated meats butterball the poultry producer and premium standard farms in 2007 . 9 it sold its 49 percent share in butterball in 2008 for an estimated 175 million . 13 the acquisitions have caused concern among regulators in the united states regarding the company s control of the food supply . after smithfield s purchase of murphy family farms the agriculture department described it as absurdly big . 6 as of 2006 four companies smithfield tyson swift & company and cargill were responsible for the production of 70 percent of pork in the united states . 14 the company had 50 200 employees in the united states mexico and europe as of 2016 and an annual revenue of 14 billion . 1 it raises 15.8 million pigs a year producing 3.8 billion pounds of fresh pork and 2.7 billion pounds of packaged meat sold as 50 brands of pork products and 200 gourmet foods . 15 along with specialty brands such as paula deen collection and international brands such as weight watchers the company s 12 core brands are armour carando cook s ham curly s foods eckrich farmland gwaltney healthy ones john morrell kretschmar margherita and smithfield . 16 the company also operates the genuine smithfield ham shoppe and a restaurant taste of smithfield both in smithfield virginia . 17 on 29 may 2013 shuanghui group also known as the shineway group the largest meat producer in china announced a purchase of all of the stock of smithfield foods inc. for approximately 4.72 billion . 18 it was also announced by shuanghui that it would list smithfield on the hong kong stock exchange after completing the takeover . 19 on 6 september 2013 the u.s. government approved shuanghui international holding s purchase of smithfield food inc. the deal was valued approximately 7.1 billion . it since has been the largest stock acquisition by a chinese company of an american company to date . 20 pig production edit vertical integration edit further information vertical integration in 1990 the company bought hog farming operations making it a vertically integrated company . the system allows smithfield to control every stage of pig production from conception and birth to slaughter processing and packing known as from squeal to meal or from birth to bacon . 11 luter has said that vertical integration gives you high quality consistent products with consistent genetics . and the only way to do that is to control the process from the farm to the packing plant . 6 tyya n. turner writes that in 1990 the company obtained 2 000 pigs and the exclusive right to their genetic lines from britain s national pig development company and used them to create smithfield lean generation pork which was certified by the american heart association for its low fat salt and cholesterol content . according to luter it was vertical integration that enabled this . 2 housing and lagoons edit the pigs are housed together in their thousands in identical barns with metal roofs known as cafos concentrated animal feeding operations . 21 the floors of the buildings are slatted allowing waste to be flushed into 30 feet deep open air pits the size of two football fields referred to within the industry as lagoons . 22 smithfield says the lagoons contain an impervious liner made to withstand leakage . 22 according to jeff tietz writing for rolling stone magazine the waste a mixture of excrement urine blood afterbirths stillborn pigs drugs and other chemicals overflows when it rains and the liners can be punctured by rocks . 7 smithfield attributes the pink color of the waste to the health of the lagoons writing that the color is a sign of bacteria doing what it should be doing . it s indicative of lower odor and lower nutrient content . 23 pregnant sows edit sows used for breeding are confined in 7 ft x 2 ft gestation crates . 24 this image was taken inside a smithfield facility in virginia in 2010 . smithfield said in december 2011 that it would phase out the use of gestation crates on its company owned farms by 2017 in the united states and by 2022 in europe and mexico . 25 pregnant