Exclusive | Top US turkey producer — maker of – Business News
The US turkey industry is dealing with a totally feathered disaster — and one of its greatest heavyweights is quietly trotting away from the business, The Post has discovered.
Minnesota-based food giant Cargill — the third-largest turkey processor within the US — is winding down its Shady Brook Farms line of turkey burgers, sausages, cutlets and complete birds because it eyes a broader exit from a slumping area of interest that has been slammed by fowl flu, sources stated.
The century-old Shady Brook Farms turkey model is being phased out, in accordance with industry sources. shadybrookfarms.com
The 112-year-old grocery store label — whose packaging options a crimson barn and advertises meat with out antibiotics, hormones or steroids — shall be off the cabinets at many shops by July, a number of retailers and distributors advised The Post.
That’s even if Shady Brook Farms has been the dominant turkey model in grocery shops alongside the East Coast — in lots of circumstances the one model retailers have supplied for many years.
“Cargill wants to get out of the turkey business,” a distributor advised The Post. “Cargill are big numbers people and they are spitting out numbers that don’t make sense.”
The shift is already underway. In March, Morton Williams supermarkets started receiving about half the quantity of Shady Brook Farm pre-packaged meat than it had earlier than and turned to 2 further distributors to make up for the shortfall, in accordance with Victor Colello, director of meat for the New York City-based grocery chain.
“Ground turkey is a huge item for us,” Colello stated.
Morton Williams is offering clients Butterball turkey model after its Shady Brook Farms orders had been cut in half. Christopher Sadowski
Stew Leonard’s, a family-owned grocery store chain within the New York space, additionally noticed its Shady Brook Farm orders slashed in latest weeks, chief govt Stew Leonard Jr. advised The Post.
“We are scrambling on the buying side to find another producer of ground turkey,” he stated. “And we’re expecting turkey prices to go up.”
Earlier this yr, Cargill introduced that it will be closing one of a number of turkey processing plants this summer time in Springdale, Ark. as client demand for turkey ranges off, making it a much less profitable protein for the huge provider. More than 1,000 Shady Brook staff will lose their jobs.
Stew Leonard’s grocery chain is “scrambling” to seek out a alternative for Shady Brook Farms turkey meat. Bloomberg by way of Getty Images
Still, Cargill referred to as claims that it’s exiting the turkey industry “rumor and speculation.”
“Turkey remains an essential part of Cargill’s protein portfolio,” the company stated in a assertion in regards to the plant closing. “We will shift much of Springdale’s production to our turkey processing plants in Missouri and Virginia and work to minimize supply disruptions to customers.”
The turkey industry has been hit mercilessly in latest seasons by viral epidemics. Bird flu has killed 19 million turkeys since 2022. A more recent respiratory bug referred to as Metapneumovirus is “decimating” turkey flocks because it has hit between 60% and 80% of flocks nationwide, in accordance with the National Turkey Federation.
Many farms “have quit raising turkeys” altogether as a result of of the viruses and the financial jitters they’ve sparked, in accordance with congressional testimony in February by the federation’s previous chairman, John Zimmerman.
Turkey meat accounts for simply 11% of the poultry market. YouTube / Cargill
“Most farms operate on a credit line and the banks are saying that if you could lose 30% of your flock each time we lend you money, it doesn’t make sense to lend you money right now,” Zimmerman advised The Post.
That’s on high of declining client appetites for turkey, which has steadily misplaced market share to chicken — even during go-to holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. Turkey now represents simply 11% of poultry consumption versus 87% for chicken.
“Turkey demand went up in the 1980s and has been the same for 40 years,” poultry skilled Paul Aho advised The Post. “It’s a stagnant industry that hasn’t experienced the explosive growth of the chicken industry.”
Turkey reached its peak within the mid-Nineties at 26.8 kilos per capita, fueled by aggressive advertising about lean meats, together with turkey bacon. In 2024, the per capita fell to 13.9 kilos or one pound much less than 2023, in accordance with USDA knowledge.
Shady Brook Farms is a century-old model that many grocers have been offering completely for many years. Bloomberg by way of Getty Images
Turkey is Cargill’s least profitable protein and has been for years, sources inform The Post. Shady Brook has periodically failed to meet commitments to main retailers who had been pressured to show to different suppliers — and who billed Cargill for the distinction, a number of sources advised The Post.
“Shady Brook is an albatross for Cargill,” one industry govt advised The Post. “We used to joke with Cargill employees about why Cargill didn’t shut down Shady Brook years ago or sell it.”
Cargill’s Springdale, Ark. plant was inbuilt 1965 and is amongst its oldest amenities. The plant misplaced as a lot as $38 million in a yr and a glitch-ridden technology improve “really impacted their business,” in accordance with one source with information of the breakdowns.
“That’s an ancient plant and if it hasn’t been upgraded over time,” Aho stated. “It makes sense that it might be it’s least profitable facility.”
Cargill is closing a turkey processing plant in Arkansas this summer time. Getty Images
Shady Brook Farms shouldn’t be the one struggling turkey processor. California primarily based Foster Farms is closing a turkey plant on May 9, shedding 500 staff.
“Consumption has declined and so closing a plant is a business decision those companies have made,” Zimmerman stated. “But it’s not the death knell of the turkey industry [and] hopefully we can find ways to bring back consumption.”
Cargill is the biggest privately owned company within the US with $160 billion in revenues. Sales dropped 10% in 2024 as each its meat and crops companies suffered losses. The company is shedding 5% of its workforce.
At the retail stage, Cargill is initially solely choking off smaller chains, and can proceed to provide bigger retailers, together with Stop & Shop, Shop Rite and Aldi together with the some large membership shops.
“We continue to offer retailers the Shady Brook Farms brand of turkey products as they request and as are available,” the Cargill spokesperson stated.
Distributors and retailers who’ve spoken with Cargill officers say the company needs to exit the turkey market. Getty Images
Colello of Morton Williams fears his shops will lose business to the bigger chains as a result of clients have been shopping for Shady Brook Farms for many years. Without the model, retailers are reaching out to Butterball, Jennie-O and Perdue, which even have been stretched by the fowl flu.
“You have to get customers used to a new brand,” Colello stated.
