Tyson Foods, an American multinational corporation, is based in Springdale, Arkansas. The company operates in the food industry and is the world's second-largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork after JBS S.A. Tyson annually exports the largest percentage of beef out of the United States and is the largest meat company in America.
Together with its subsidiaries, it operates major food brands, including Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, Ball Park, Wright Brand, Aidells, and State Fair. The company produces a wide variety of animal-based, prepared foods and plant-based products at its 123 food processing plants.
It produces many different products, including Buffalo wings, boneless Buffalo wings, chicken nuggets, and tenders. Tyson Foods supplies Yum! Brands, retail grocers, broad line foodservice distributors and national fast food and full-service restaurant chains with chicken, beef and pork. The company also provides fresh beef and pork; frozen and fully cooked chicken, beef and pork products; case-ready beef and pork; supermarket deli chicken products; meat toppings for the pizza industry and retail frozen pizza; club store chicken, beef and pork; ground beef and flour tortillas.
In 2019, the company entered the plant protein category with their Raised & Rooted brand. The brand initially included vegetarian nuggets as well as burgers with a blend of beef and pea protein, then expanded to include tenders.
When you think of Tyson, you probably imagine what is only a nugget of the larger picture that is Tyson Foods. We're proud of our growing portfolio of protein-centric brands, offering nutritious and delicious options that fit seamlessly into modern lives. Driven by a commitment to feed the world, we're reimagining the journey from farm to table. We’re a progressive food company with a multitude of career paths and job opportunities.
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A History Rooted in the Great Depression
The Tyson Foods story begins during the Great Depression when John W. Tyson moved his family to Springdale, Arkansas, in search of new opportunities. In 1935, he bought 50 "springer" chickens and hauled them to Chicago to sell at a profit. Two years later, he named his business Tyson Feed & Hatchery. In 1947, the company was incorporated.
During World War II, food rationing became an everyday reality. Poultry, however, was not rationed, and demand grew fast. After the war, the business continued to boom as the company began to vertically integrate, which drastically reduced costs.
Five years later, Don Tyson graduated from college and joined the company as head of operations. Father and son were said to have made a dynamic team, the older Tyson more cautious and the younger one pushing forward. For example, Don convinced his father to raise rock cornish game hens, a market that Tyson would one day dominate. For the next six years, Tyson focused on expanding production facilities, and, in 1957, the company opened a processing plant in Springdale, Arkansas, the site of the company headquarters. Tyson also introduced its first ice-pack processing line, which brought the company into a more competitive industry bracket.
Expansion and Innovation
In 1963, Tyson went public and changed its name to Tyson's Foods, Incorporated. It also made its first acquisition, the Garrett Poultry Company, based in Rogers, Arkansas. In 1966, John Tyson and his wife died in an automobile accident, and Don Tyson took over the business as president.
During the 1970s, Tyson continued to grow and diversify. In 1970, a new egg facility was built, and, in 1971, a computerized feed mill and a plant in Nashville, Arkansas, were completed. Also in 1971 the company's name was changed from Tyson's Foods to Tyson Foods. That year Tyson began selling the Ozark Fry, the first breaded chicken breast patty, and also bought a hog operation in Creswell, North Carolina, from First Colony Farms.
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By the early 1980s, consumers' nutritional concerns and the continuously high prices of beef and pork had caused the nation's poultry consumption to increase 30 percent since 1970. This increase was also partly due to innovative, easy-to-prepare products from companies like Tyson and the industry's ability to improve breeding and feed techniques. In 1980, Tyson introduced its Chick 'n Quick line of products, which included a variety of chicken portions that were easy to prepare.
In October 1988, Tyson made a takeover bid for Memphis-based Holly Farms Corporation, the national leader in brand name chicken sales. Finally in June 1989, Don Tyson agreed to pay $1.29 billion for Holly Farms, and the company was fully merged into Tyson later that year. The purchase of Holly Farms made Tyson the undisputed king of the chicken industry. It also gained a stronger position in beef and pork through Holly Farms's further-processing operations.
In 1992 Tyson acquired Arctic Alaska Fisheries Corporation, a vertically integrated seafood products company, and Louis Kemp Seafood Company, which was purchased from Oscar Mayer Foods Corporation.
Not to be deterred, the company continued its aggressive expansion in 1995 with the purchase of the chicken plants of Cargill, which had decided it could no longer compete with Tyson's chicken empire. An important era for Tyson ended in April 1995 when Don Tyson retired as chairman, denying that the firm's recent controversies had prompted the move.
In 1998, Tyson merges with longtime competitor Hudson Foods. The founder's grandson, John Tyson, becomes chairman of the board. In 2000, Tyson celebrates its 65th anniversary. John Tyson becomes CEO.
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From Farm to Fortune: The Story of Tyson Foods.
Recent Developments and Leadership
After the tragic deaths of John and his wife Helen in a train accident their son Don took over as CEO in 1967.
John H. Tyson rises to serve as chairman of the board. In 2000, Chairman John H. Tyson is also named CEO. Like his father and grandfather, he begins leading Tyson Foods through another period of dramatic expansion.
Other notable leaders include:
- Richard L. Bond (2006 until January 7, 2009)
- Donnie Smith (November 2009 to December 2016)
- Noel White (October 2018-October 3, 2020, beginning of the 2021 fiscal year)
- Dean Banks, former Alphabet executive (October 2020-June 2021)
- Donnie King, the former Chief Operating Officer (COO), began serving as president and CEO in June 2021 and is still in office.
On May 29, 2014, the company announced a $6.13 billion cash offer to acquire all the shares in Hillshire Brands, two days after a $6.4 billion cash and shares bid for Hillshire by Pilgrim's Corp. In June 2014, Tyson won the bidding war against Pilgrim's Pride, agreeing to buy the maker of Jimmy Dean sausage and Ball Park hot dogs for $8.5 billion.
On June 1, 2018, Tyson announced that it would sell the Sara Lee, Van's, Chef Pierre and Bistro Collection brands to Kohlberg & Company. The sale was completed on August 1.
Philanthropy and Community Engagement
Since 2000, Tyson Foods has donated millions of dollars in cash to help non-profit organizations across the country. For more than a decade, Tyson Foods has been honored to stand alongside Wreaths Across America to help ensure our nation’s veterans are remembered and honored. Supporting the communities where we live and work has always been at the heart of Tyson Foods’ values.
Forbes named Tyson Foods the second most proportionally generous company for its donations in 2007, totaling 1.6 percent ($8 million) of its annual operating income. Tyson initiated the KNOW Hunger campaign in early 2011 to raise awareness of hunger in the United States. After the Joplin, Missouri tornado of 2011, Tyson sent 77,000 pounds of food to the city. It also sent 100,000 pounds of food to the communities along the Gulf of Mexico after the April 20, 2010, oil spill.
Tyson has supported "Little Free Pantries," and has partnered with the Chicago Urban League for educational programs on misconceptions about SNAP (food stamp) benefits. Tyson "pledged to invest $50 million by 2020 in various efforts to fight food insecurity" in 2015.
Controversies and Challenges
Tyson Foods has been involved in a number of controversies related to the environment, animal welfare, and the welfare of their own employees.
Environmental Concerns
Tyson Foods has been responsible for numerous instances of environmental damage. Tyson is the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the global food industry. Tyson has been involved in several lawsuits related to air and water pollution. Environmental groups have blamed Tyson for polluting the Illinois River with poultry litter.
In 2019, the Environmental Integrity Project identified Tyson as being a major discharger of pollution to waterways in East Texas. In 2019, wastewater from a Tyson plant in Alabama polluted rivers and killed approximately 175,000 fish.
In 2020, it was reported that Tyson Foods uses 4.89 million acres of land for soybeans and 5.2 million acres of corn for providing feed for their 6 million cows, 22 million hogs, and 2 billion chickens.
Worker Safety and Welfare
According to Celeste Monforton, professor of occupational health at George Washington University, 34 employees were injured at 10 Tyson meatpacking plants during January-September 2015, resulting in one amputation per month on average. An Oxfam report issued in 2016 cited anonymous employees who stated they were routinely denied bathroom breaks; they wore adult diapers to work in order to get through the day.
In 2017, Tyson Foods announced plans to provide regularly scheduled bathroom breaks and training on workers' rights for employees, "give more attention to line speeds at plants", and establish safety councils that involved workers.
Tyson Foods was indicted on December 9, 2001, along with six employees, on charges that it conspired to smuggle illegal immigrants across the Mexican border to work in its processing plants.
COVID-19 Pandemic Response
As the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the United States, officials criticized Tyson Foods on April 17, 2020, for failing to close a Waterloo, Iowa plant where an outbreak of the disease began. Tyson closed the Waterloo plant on April 22. In December 2020, Tyson received the results of an investigation led by former US Attorney General and Covington & Burling partner Eric Holder, and terminated seven of its top managers at the Waterloo, Iowa plant.
In August 2021, Tyson announced that all employees were required to be "fully vaccinated" with COVID-19 vaccines by November. The company offered employees a $200 incentive to get vaccinated.
Animal Welfare
In 2012, Tyson introduced an auditing program known as FarmCheck to check how animals are treated by the company's suppliers. In 2015, Tyson Foods severed ties with a supplier after Mercy For Animals published videos showing that employees at a Tyson supplier were stabbing, clubbing and stomping on chickens.
Product Recalls
On January 30, 2019, Tyson Foods announced a recall for over 36,000 pounds of chicken nuggets that were at risk of being contaminated with small pieces of rubber. On March 21, 2019, the company issued a recall for 69,000 pounds of chicken strips potentially contaminated with pieces of metal, following six complaints submitted to the Food Safety and Inspection Service, including three alleged oral injuries. On July 3, 2021, Tyson Foods announced a recall for approximately 8,955,296 pounds of ready-to-eat (RTE) chicken products that may be adulterated with Listeria monocytogenes.