JBS USA

JBS USA Holdings, Inc.
Company type	Subsidiary
Traded as	(as Esmark) NYSE: ESMK (delisted)
Industry	Meatpacking
Founded	1855; 171 years ago
Headquarters	Greeley, Colorado, U.S.
Key people	Wesley Batista Filho (CEO)
Revenue	Increase US$27.8 billion (2017)
Number of employees	78,000+
Parent	JBS S.A.
Subsidiaries	Plumrose USA; Pilgrim's; Primo Smallgoods;
Website	jbsfoodsgroup.com

JBS USA Holdings, Inc. operates as a leading entity in the meat processing sector and functions as a fully owned subsidiary of the Brazilian multinational corporation JBS S.A.. The company entered the American market in 2007 through its acquisition of Swift & Company. Its headquarters are located in Greeley, Colorado, and it stands as a competitor to prominent firms such as Hormel Foods, Cargill, Smithfield Foods, National Beef, and Tyson Foods.

Swift & Company

Established in 1855 by the young entrepreneur Gustavus Franklin Swift, then aged 16, Swift & Company originated as a butchering business based in Eastham, Massachusetts. The firm expanded operations to important cities including Brighton, Albany, and Buffalo before formally incorporating in Chicago in 1875. In 1902, Swift alongside Armour and Company gained controlling interest in the Fort Worth Stockyards, strengthening their position within the market. That same year, Swift faced an antitrust lawsuit aimed at curbing its dominance, which ultimately led to the significant 1905 Supreme Court decision Swift & Co. v. United States.

By the decade of the 1920s, Swift managed one of the largest meat processing facilities situated in South St. Paul, Minnesota, focusing on slaughtering cattle, hogs, and sheep procured from nearby stockyards. The company broadened its product portfolio to encompass fresh and processed meats such as Prem, baby nutrition products, soap, lard, adhesives, chemical compounds, pharmaceuticals, fertilizers, hides, and animal feed. Operations at the South St. Paul plant concluded in 1969.

In addition to its meatpacking activities, Swift marketed various dairy and grocery items including Swiftning shortening, Allsweet margarine, Brookfield butter and cheese brands (Pauly and Treasure Cave), along with Peter Pan peanut butter. The Butterball brand was introduced in 1954 for frozen turkey products. Gustavus Swift also played a pivotal role in developing refrigerated railroad cars that significantly improved cold chain logistics vital for the meatpacking industry's expansion.

Esmark and ConAgra

During the 1960s, Swift diversified its business interests into insurance and petroleum sectors by establishing the holding company Esmark in 1973. Esmark acquired International Playtex in 1975 and divested Globe Life Insurance in 1977. The petroleum segment was exited in 1980 through the sale of Vickers Petroleum to Mobil. Concurrently that year, Swift's fresh-meat operations were spun off into Swift Independent Packing Company (SIPCO). In 1983 Esmark purchased Norton Simon Inc., only to be acquired itself by Beatrice Foods a year later in 1984. ConAgra acquired a half stake in SIPCO in 1987 before obtaining full ownership by 1989; this transaction coincided with ConAgra's acquisition of Beatrice Foods. Subsequently, ConAgra merged SIPCO with Monfort and rebranded the combined entity as Swift & Company in 1995.

In 2002, ConAgra divested a majority interest in Swift & Company to private equity investors Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst along with Booth Creek Management; by 2004 Hicks Muse had secured complete control of the company.

Acquisition by JBS

On July 12, 2007, JBS S.A. completed the purchase of Swift & Company for $1.5 billion in cash, forming the JBS Swift Group and establishing itself as the leading beef processor worldwide. Prior to this acquisition, JBS operated 28 facilities in Brazil and Argentina, boasting a market capitalization of $4.2 billion and annual revenues of $2.1 billion. The transaction included restructuring existing debt through tender offer mechanisms.

Following the acquisition, JBS broadened its footprint in the U.S. by acquiring Smithfield Foods’ beef division for $565 million in 2008. Although there was an intention to acquire National Beef Packing for $560 million, the plan was abandoned due to antitrust regulatory challenges. In 2009, JBS USA secured a controlling interest in poultry producer Pilgrim’s Pride, eventually increasing its stake to exceed 75%.

JBS USA initiated an initial public offering in 2009 encompassing 38 subsidiaries; however, the IPO was withdrawn after accounting irregularities came to light.

In October 2012, under a purchase option agreement, JBS USA took over management of XL Foods’ Lakeside beef processing plant; the acquisition finalized in January 2013 also included facilities located in Brooks and Calgary along with an associated feedyard. Later, in July 2015, JBS USA acquired Cargill Meat Solutions’ U.S. pork processing operations for $1.45 billion.

In May 2021, JBS S.A. experienced a ransomware cyberattack that disrupted meat processing activities in the United States; the company paid an $11 million ransom in Bitcoin to restore operations.

Animal welfare

On December 2, 2010, JBS entered into a partnership with Arrowsight, a company specializing in remote video auditing, to oversee sanitation processes and prevent cross-contamination during production. Arrowsight’s monitoring also extends to live cattle management to ensure adherence to animal welfare standards. These measures have contributed to enhanced operational quality.

Environmental standards

In March 2021, following investigative reports connecting JBS to unlawful deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, the company pledged to eliminate illegal deforestation within its supply chain by 2030 and to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040—marking it as the first global meat producer to make such commitments.

In March 2024, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against JBS USA alleging deceptive practices linked to its "Net Zero by 2040" campaign. The suit claims that the initiative was launched without fully accounting for Scope 3 emissions throughout its supply chain. At Climate Week NYC in 2023, CEO Gilberto Tomazoni faced criticism after the Better Business Bureau concluded that JBS lacked definitive plans to fulfill its net-zero objectives.

Food safety and quality

On June 24, 2009, JBS Swift Beef Company initiated a recall of approximately of beef suspected of contamination with E. coli O157:H7; by June 30, this recall expanded significantly nationwide.

On December 22, 2010, the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration imposed a $175,000 fine on JBS/Swift for violations of the Packers and Stockyards Act related to failure in disclosing missing Fat-O-Meat'er data affecting lean percentage assessments in pork carcasses and using undisclosed values during payment calculations at certain facilities.

Immigration raids

In December 2006, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted raids at six Swift & Company meatpacking plants located across Colorado, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Iowa, and Minnesota. This operation resulted in the detention of 1,282 undocumented workers from various countries; nearly 200 individuals faced criminal charges following a ten-month investigation into identity theft activities.

Labor standards

On November 4, 2010, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration required JBS Carriers, a subsidiary of JBS, to implement electronic on-board recorders following the discovery of significant breaches in federal hours-of-service regulations.

The COVID-19 pandemic posed considerable difficulties for JBS's Greeley, Colorado facility. By mid-April 2020, more than 100 employees had tested positive for the virus and five fatalities were reported, attracting nationwide scrutiny and leading to a temporary shutdown. Although there were intentions to conduct extensive testing and enforce quarantine protocols, the plant resumed operations after a nine-day closure. Comparable outbreaks were reported at six additional JBS beef processing locations throughout the United States, affecting both operational continuity and employee health.

Price-fixing allegations

In 2022, JBS consented to pay $52.5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by grocers and wholesalers accusing JBS, National Beef, Cargill, and Tyson of conspiring to manipulate beef prices, without admitting any fault. Subsequently, in 2024, McDonald's initiated legal action against JBS and the same group of companies over similar price-fixing claims.

Relationship with the Trump administration

In 2019, the Trump administration allocated $62.4 million from a relief fund aimed at U.S. farmers impacted by the trade conflict with China to JBS USA. That year also saw the U.S. Department of Agriculture purchase $22.3 million worth of pork products from JBS. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and Attorney General Jeff Sessions called for a Justice Department probe into potential corruption issues. Despite trade tensions, JBS reported growth in sales within China and highlighted its role in supporting American farmers through employment opportunities. Representative Rosa DeLauro asserted that President Trump was not informed about the financial assistance.

A May 2022 report from a House Select Oversight Subcommittee revealed that the CEOs of JBS, Tyson, and Smithfield lobbied Secretary Perdue to prioritize keeping meatpacking employees working on-site during the COVID-19 crisis despite associated health hazards. This underscored the close relationship between the Trump administration and the meatpacking sector throughout the pandemic period.

External links