Swift & Company
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Meat processing |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Headquarters | Greeley, Colorado , United States |
Area served | United States |
| Parent | JBS S.A. |
| Website | jbssa |
JBS USA Holdings, Inc. operates as a meat processing enterprise and functions as a fully owned subsidiary of the Brazilian multinational corporation JBS S.A.. The company entered the U.S. market in 2007 by acquiring Swift & Company. Its headquarters are located in Greeley, Colorado, and it competes alongside prominent industry leaders including Hormel Foods, Cargill, Smithfield Foods, National Beef, and Tyson Foods.
Swift & Company
The origins of Swift & Company date back to 1855 when 16-year-old Gustavus Franklin Swift launched a butchering business in Eastham, Massachusetts. The firm expanded its operations to cities such as Brighton, Albany, and Buffalo before formally incorporating in Chicago in 1875. In 1902, Swift partnered with Armour and Company to gain controlling shares of the Fort Worth Stockyards. That same year, their market dominance was challenged by an antitrust lawsuit, culminating in the landmark 1905 Supreme Court decision Swift & Co. v. United States.
By the 1920s, Swift managed its largest meat processing facility in South St. Paul, Minnesota, focusing on slaughtering cattle, hogs, and sheep supplied from neighboring stockyards. The company’s product line included fresh meats and processed items such as canned goods like Prem. It also expanded into various sectors including baby food production, soap manufacturing, lard, adhesives, pharmaceuticals, fertilizers, hides, and animal feed. The South St. Paul plant ceased operations in 1969.
Beyond its core meatpacking activities, Swift offered dairy and grocery items such as Swiftning shortening, Allsweet margarine, Brookfield-branded butter and cheese (including Pauly and Treasure Cave), as well as Peter Pan peanut butter. A significant innovation was the introduction of frozen turkeys marketed under the Butterball brand starting in 1954. Gustavus Swift also pioneered the use of refrigerated railcars to improve meat transportation logistics.
Esmark and ConAgra
During the 1960s, Swift diversified into insurance and petroleum industries, leading to the establishment of the holding company Esmark in 1973. Esmark acquired International Playtex in 1975 and divested Globe Life Insurance by 1977. It exited the petroleum sector by selling Vickers Petroleum to Mobil in 1980—the same year Swift’s fresh meat division was spun off as Swift Independent Packing Company (SIPCO). Esmark then purchased Norton Simon Inc. in 1983 before being taken over by Beatrice Foods in 1984. ConAgra acquired a 50% stake in SIPCO in 1987 and completed full ownership by 1989, coinciding with its acquisition of Beatrice Foods. In 1995, ConAgra merged SIPCO with Monfort’s meatpacking operations and rebranded the division as Swift & Company.
In 2002, ConAgra divested a majority interest in Swift & Company to private equity firms Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst and Booth Creek Management; by 2004 these investors had obtained complete ownership.
Purchase by JBS
On July 12, 2007, JBS finalized a $1.5 billion all-cash purchase of Swift & Company, forming the largest beef processing company worldwide. Prior to this acquisition, JBS maintained a market capitalization of $4.2 billion with revenues amounting to $2.1 billion and operated 28 facilities across Brazil and Argentina.
Concurrently with this transaction, Swift entities conducted tender offers for various senior and subordinated notes they had issued.
In 2008, JBS expanded its footprint by acquiring Smithfield Foods’ beef operations for $565 million. It also announced intentions to purchase National Beef Packing Company for $560 million but later withdrew amid antitrust regulatory challenges.
In 2009, JBS USA secured a controlling stake (63%) in poultry producer Pilgrim’s Pride and subsequently increased ownership beyond 75%. That year it filed for an initial public offering encompassing 38 subsidiaries; however, issues related to auditing delayed this process.
By October 2012, JBS USA assumed operational control of XL Foods’ Lakeside beefpacking plant located in Alberta with an option to acquire XL’s Canadian and U.S.-based assets. This acquisition was finalized in January 2013 and included additional facilities along with a feedyard.
In July 2015, JBS USA further bolstered its position in pork production by purchasing Cargill Meat Solutions’ U.S. pork processing operations for $1.45 billion.
Immigration raids
In December 2006, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted raids at six of the company's meat-processing plants located in Colorado, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Iowa, and Minnesota. This operation led to the detention of 1,282 undocumented employees from various nations, with close to 200 individuals facing criminal prosecution following a ten-month investigation into identity theft.
Amazon deforestation and net-zero pledge
In March 2021, JBS became the first worldwide meat producer to commit to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. This announcement came after investigative reports exposed connections between JBS' supply chain and illegal deforestation in the Amazon. The company also pledged to eradicate illegal deforestation from its supply chains—including in the Cerrado biome—by 2030.
Nonetheless, in March 2024, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against JBS USA for allegedly misleading consumers regarding its "Net Zero by 2040" initiative. The complaint asserts that JBS promoted this campaign before fully assessing Scope 3 emissions across its supply network. During the 2023 Climate Week NYC event, CEO Gilberto Tomazoni faced criticism after the Better Business Bureau determined that JBS' net-zero assertions lacked sufficient evidence and detailed implementation strategies.
Food safety and quality issues
On June 24, 2009, the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced a recall by JBS Swift Beef Company of beef products potentially contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. Initially covering approximately , the recall expanded by June 30 to over . These items, produced on April 21 and 22, 2009, were distributed across numerous states including Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin.
On November 4, 2010, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration required JBS Carriers—a subsidiary of JBS—to install electronic on-board recorders following identification of significant federal hours-of-service violations.
In December 2010, JBS adopted remote video auditing technology from Arrowsight to enhance sanitation monitoring and prevent cross-contamination during processing. This system also supervises live cattle welfare standards, aiding in elevating operational procedures.
Moreover, on December 22, 2010, the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration imposed a $175,000 fine on JBS/Swift for breaching the Packers and Stockyards Act. The violation involved undisclosed alterations to lean value data used in pork carcass payments at several facilities. This legislation is designed to promote fair trade practices and competitive marketing within the livestock and meat sectors.
Money from USDA intended for farmers
In 2019, under the Trump administration, JBS USA received $62.4 million from a fund designated to assist U.S. farmers impacted by the trade conflict with China. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Agriculture contracted purchases of pork from JBS totaling $22.3 million. Amid concerns about possible misconduct, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and Attorney General Jeff Sessions called for a Department of Justice inquiry. Reports indicated that JBS gained from heightened sales in China due to trade tensions and asserted its support for American farmers through job creation. Representative Rosa DeLauro maintained that President Trump was unaware of these payments.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the JBS plant located in Greeley, Colorado, became a critical hotspot after over 50 employees tested positive and several fatalities were reported by mid-April 2020. This facility was shut down for a period of nine days before resuming operations under enhanced safety protocols. Concurrently, similar outbreaks were identified at six additional JBS beef processing sites throughout the United States, including locations in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Texas, Nebraska, and Utah.
A May 2022 investigation conducted by the House Select Oversight Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis disclosed that JBS's CEO, alongside other leaders within the meat industry, pressured Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to prioritize maintaining on-site workforce presence despite potential health hazards. This situation underscored the conflict between industry priorities and worker safety measures during the Trump administration.
Cyberattack
In May 2021, JBS USA was targeted by a major cyberattack that caused widespread disruption across all its meat processing plants in the U.S., severely affecting both operational capabilities and supply chain logistics.
Price-fixing allegations
In 2022, JBS resolved a $52.5 million class-action lawsuit accusing it of conspiring with key competitors National Beef, Cargill, and Tyson to artificially raise beef prices; the settlement was reached without any admission of guilt. Subsequently, in 2024, McDonald's Corporation initiated legal action against JBS and these firms over similar accusations of price manipulation involving their affiliated subsidiaries.
See also
- Cactus, Texas, location of a JBS meatpacking facility
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the meat industry in the United States
- Porter Jarvis, chairman and president of Swift & Co., 1955–1967
- Swift Packing Company building (Sioux City, Iowa), formerly listed on the National Register of Historic Places (demolished)
- Swift Refrigerator Line
External links
- JBS S.A. subsidiaries
- American companies established in 1855
- Food and drink companies established in 1855
- Meat packing companies based in Omaha, Nebraska
- Food manufacturers of the United States
- Meat processing in the United States
- Companies based in Greeley, Colorado
- Former components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average
- Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange
- American subsidiaries of foreign companies
- 1855 establishments in Massachusetts
- Batista family
- Meat packers
- Meat processing in Canada
- Meat companies of Canada
- Companies of the United States by year of establishment