The meat industry encompasses all aspects of slaughtering, processing, and distributing meat for human consumption and by-products for other purposes. It has expanded beyond Chicago and continues to develop, with pork, poultry, and fish driving growth. The US has the largest number of meat packers, with four companies controlling 80% of the market.
The meat industry, also known as the meat packing industry, is the set of businesses responsible for packing and selling meat. This sector is very extensive and includes all levels of slaughtering, processing and distribution of meat for sale to consumers and foreign markets. It includes the processing of cows, pigs and any other livestock. This sector includes both packaged meats sold for human consumption and meat by-products sold for numerous other purposes.
Of course, while the meat industry’s primary purpose is the distribution of meat for human consumption, it has large pockets of success in the ancillary products created by the collective meat packing process. This allows for reduced by-product waste and a marketable solution for what may have been disposed of for no profit. These by-products include blood meal, poultry feathers, and bone meal from processing and preparing meat for market, among a host of other by-products.
Until the 1920s, Chicago was the center of the meat industry. This is due in part to the reality that Midwesterners owned most of the farms where cattle were raised. With the continued development of the railroad system, however, the meat packing industry has broadened its horizons on the map and the locations of the packing houses have spread across the states.
While it hasn’t recently experienced the great expansion of its early days, the meat industry continues to develop. Pork, poultry and fish have driven this expansion, as consumption of these meats has increased significantly in recent decades. Changes in consumption patterns continue as people focus on healthier lifestyles and eating habits that reflect these lifestyle changes. The demand for poultry and fish is replacing meats that were once considered staples of the American diet.
Even with changing consumption patterns, the United States continues to have the largest number of meat packers, numbering about 10 compared to foreign conglomerates, which number only five as of 2010. In the United States, four companies control the processing about 80 percent meat. Because of this, meatpacking companies are powerful entities. The meat industry continues to thrive despite its lack of progression comparable to that of other industries.
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