Smithfield Meats is Selling out to a China Company

[diggingdogfarm]

I think their products are crap, now that they're merging with a company from COMMUNIST China where many food companies are known for unsafe food practices and disturbingly Smithfield and company will now carry on without shareholder accountability, there's even more reasons to avoid their junk!!!!!!

~Martin

 

[roller]

Do not like her either...

 

[isucyclone]

This should not affect the availability of Smithfield products in the US. None of the current Smithfield farms in the US will be closing and they will not be changing management...only ownership.  In fact, I believe they will actually be opening more farms under the new ownership.

Currently, the US exports $900 million worth of pork to China annually. China has a larger demand for pork than they are currently importing/producing so yes, this purchase may provide a gateway for additional meat exports from the US to China, but it's not like we have not already been doing this.  It is not believed that this transaction will greatly affect pork prices, but it is hard to know exactly what will happen.

Long story short, I don't think there is anything to worry about. The US will continue to be one of the worldwide leaders in pork production and everyone will be able to get their favorite cuts to smoke for their families!

 

[chef jimmyj]

If you are shopping at Walmart, Sam's, BJ's or Costco, everything else you buy there is Chinese Crap! Might as well add Meat to the list. The article may say the goal is to increase of US hogs to China but there are no guarantees that the Above won't be making a deal to get cheap Chinese Pork in their stores. Kind of sucks to see Phillip's Jumbo Lump Crab at $37/Lb next to a Chinese Import Jumbo Lump at $15...There has got to be Heritage Slaughter House/Butchers within a reasonable drive. You can buy meat where you see the Hogs going in one end of the building and and the Ribs in the Case at the other end. Then there is no doubt what you are getting...JJ

 

[onewondershow]

This makes me worry cause I buy smithfield meat at Costco all the time. I have never been dissatisfied with the quality, it's always been excellent.  I just hope it stays that way. I'd hate to think I'm feeding my son anything toxic. 

 

[oldschoolbbq]

How sad. I wonder if Paula Dean will start doing Oriental Dishes . All that advertizement,for nothing.....

 

[foamheart]

Adds Smithfield and Smithfield products to the list with Chinese sheet rock and Chinese crawfish! <sighs>

Thin Smithfield bacon has to now be replaced........

Not going into politics but ......... have we seriously become such money grubbing fiends as to not see the writing on the wall?

Good excuse to start learning bacon and ham recipes from here faster!! There are those gorgeous smoked "country" hams. Can we graft those country hams to the Kudzu????

You also realize that the EU countries are just now starting to rebound from there pig flu eradication from a couple of years back. Where they killed off their stockyards.

Since they seem to have money has China ever paid back their lend/lease debts?

 

[dcarch]

Until we as parents learn to send our kids to engineering schools, we will never, never, ever see the trend change.

How many lawyers do we need in this country? What can lawyers manufacture to export?

China pumps out 600,000 engineers a year, we 70,000.

Mexico graduates more engineers than us.

dcarch

 

[kathrynn]

Unfortunately.....this is the "World" these days.  AND....we can not do much about Politics....and remember here at SMF....No Politics stuff in threads.  I am enjoying what folks are thinking about this topic.  We just need to keep the "play ground" nice and clean. 

AND Friendly.

Chef Jimmy....I agree....I wish there was a place around here to see the herd go in one door....and come out another one...in another form...and go into my freezer.

I have a few friends that do sell cattle and hogs for meats.  May check into that a bit more.  Have wanted to do that anyway...may just try it.

Kat

 

[scootermagoo]

Damn it!  Feed our country first!  Why is it so necessary to export our food somewhere else.  Feed the hard working American.  Why should I have to pay more now because a good portion of what is being raised here in the States is going to a foreign country.  I am so sick and tired of decisions being made based on GREED!  The GREED for MONEY!  So damn sick of it!  MONEY, MONEY, MONEY.......GOTTA HAVE MORE MONEY!

 

[roller]

Nobodies fault but our own !!!

 

[smokeamotive]

Even if not a single piece of pork is imported to the US, what this means is that all the profits from yet another US company is going to China! Just another case of a few board members and CEO's lining their own pockets at the expense of the rest of the country! So much for $ .99 lb Butts! :devil:

 

[daveomak]

Damn it!  Feed our country first!  Why is it so necessary to export our food somewhere else.  Feed the hard working American.  Why should I have to pay more now because a good portion of what is being raised here in the States is going to a foreign country.  I am so sick and tired of decisions being made based on GREED!  The GREED for MONEY!  So damn sick of it!  MONEY, MONEY, MONEY.......GOTTA HAVE MORE MONEY!

Scooter... The pigs are raised here... fed here... employees work at all the suppliers, feed lots, vets take care of the animals, slaughter houses employees have jobs, truckers deliver the meat, stores sell the meat, stock markets trade on the commodities, 401 K's and mutual funds invests in the suppliers, growers.....  Pork is a "valued added" product for Americans at home....  

Exports add to the GDP of the USA....  It's called Capitalism... Private enterprise....  without it, we would be another European, Socialistic lifestyle....  

Maybe, just maybe, if they export more pork, than we do now, it will mean more jobs here... 

If approved, the deal is not expected to have a major impact on food safety for domestic pork, as the company will remain under the supervision of the U.S. Department of Agriculture

Maybe the Chinese need quality raised pork to feed their people...  they seem to have a problem with quality in many areas of manufacturing..... 

+++++++++++++++++++++

[color= rgb(68, 68, 68)]Budweiser[/color], the king of beers, was once [color= rgb(68, 68, 68)]owned[/color]  by the Annheuser-Busch company, and is now [color= rgb(68, 68, 68)]owned[/color]  by a Belgian brewing company called In-Bev.

+++++++++++++++++

With the purchase, [color= rgb(68, 68, 68)]Chrysler[/color]  once again became foreign [color= rgb(68, 68, 68)]owned[/color]; this time Italian car maker Fiat gained majority ownership and control of [color= rgb(68, 68, 68)]Chrysler[/color].

++++++++++++++++

 

[diggingdogfarm]

Deleted because the post is useless without the link.




~Martin

 

[redwood carlos]

Hopefully the DOJ will not allow it.

 

[chef willie]

Not sure if it will be the same sort of 'deal' but years ago I worked for Sysco Foods as a sales rep slinging food to restaurants. There was a serious shortage of chicken thighs & the Hispanic & Chinese restaurant owners were going crazy with not only the price increases but availability of product. I was told by Sysco buyers that one of the problems was the shipments of thighs to China. Seems a 'contract' had been struck for X amount of meat that HAD to be shipped regardless of what was happening to the market here. They have the clout & cash to be able to buy thousands of pounds at a time. Hoping it won't be the same with this deal or yes, cargo ships will be loaded first and local consumers will have to deal with shortages and high prices. Their farms cannot support the amount of people needing to eat so much is imported. Whatever we export to them should be at top dollar. But, I agree with others here....time to start looking into locally raised critters. I don't trust the Chinese to regulate anything or, most of Asia, for that matter.

 

[oldschoolbbq]

I FULLY AGREE.....

I'll stand up for our Nation FIRST,Dammit .

 

[kathrynn]

  all for supporting the USA as well.  But when it comes to Business...."Bin-ness is Bin'ness".

Kat

 

[redwood carlos]

Not sure if it will be the same sort of 'deal' but years ago I worked for Sysco Foods as a sales rep slinging food to restaurants. There was a serious shortage of chicken thighs & the Hispanic & Chinese restaurant owners were going crazy with not only the price increases but availability of product. I was told by Sysco buyers that one of the problems was the shipments of thighs to China. Seems a 'contract' had been struck for X amount of meat that HAD to be shipped regardless of what was happening to the market here. They have the clout & cash to be able to buy thousands of pounds at a time. Hoping it won't be the same with this deal or yes, cargo ships will be loaded first and local consumers will have to deal with shortages and high prices. Their farms cannot support the amount of people needing to eat so much is imported. Whatever we export to them should be at top dollar. But, I agree with others here....time to start looking into locally raised critters. I don't trust the Chinese to regulate anything or, most of Asia, for that matter.

They are pretty much buying clean water and grain in the form of food (pig) for cheaper than they could buy the water alone.

 

[jp61]

Smithfield's CEO Pope says, the main reason for the pending sale is to increase its export to China. If this agreement is finalized, there is no Smithfield to export anything, anywhere. The brand will remain, but, it will be privately owned and operated by Shuanghui. Don't know who approached whom in this, but I guess the offer was too good to refuse. Selling out to the Chinese...., really? Nice!!! 

I won't be buying any Smithfield products in the future, even if this deal does not go through. Nothing personal, it's just my choice! Next time I'm at Sam's club, I will relay my feelings to the store manager. (probably a waste of energy)

Edit: Not only is this buyout going to effect prices, I just read this...

Published May 29, 2013

Reuters

"The sudden and widespread appearance of a swine virus deadly to young pigs - one never before seen in North America - is raising questions about the bio-security shield designed to protect the U.S. food supply.The swine-only virus, the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV), poses no danger to humans or other animals, and the meat from infected pigs is safe for people to eat.Though previously seen in parts of Asia and Europe, the virus now has spread into five leading hog-raising U.S. states. How it arrived in the United States remains a mystery.While the U.S. imports millions of pigs each year from Canada, it imports pigs from virtually no other country, and no Canadian cases of PEDV have been confirmed. Veterinarians and epidemiologists say pigs are infected through oral means, and that the virus is not airborne and does it not occur spontaneously in nature."

"If you've got it, it's bad," said Mark Greenwood, vice president of agri-business capital at AgStar Financial Services, who said none of his clients have been affected. "I spoke to a farmer in the Midwest who had it show up in a 2,000-head barn of pigs, and had a 40 percent death loss."