How American Is Your Fourth of July Barbecue?

This traditional U.S. holiday isn't as all-American and you might think.
By Anders Keitz ,

Millions of people spend Fourth of July celebrating America's independence by gathering with friends and family for a barbecue. But this U.S. tradition isn't as all-American as you might think.

Burgers, hot dogs and ribs will be among the most popular foods served this holiday weekend. U.S.-based Tyson Foods (TSN) - Get Report is one of the biggest U.S. meat processors, with a market cap of $25.5 billion and a stock that has gained 24% year to date.

But two of Tyson's competitors are not based in America: JBS S.A. (JBSAY) and WH Group (WGHPY) .

The latter is the world's largest pork company and is based in Hong Kong. The WH Group was formerly known as Shuanghui International, and renamed itself in January 2014 to reflect its emerging global reach, according to its website. Under the Shuanghui name, China's largest meat processing business acquired U.S.-based Smithfield Foods in 2013 for $4.7 billion (the total transaction was valued at $7.1 billion including debt). Smithfield Foods include the brands Smithfield, Farmland, Nathan's Famous, Curly's and more.

According to the WH Group's fiscal 2015 annual results, operating profit for its fresh pork business was $226 million, while operating profit for its hog production business was $54 million. But in the U.S., the Smithfield-branded packaged meat products ranked the second fastest-growing one in the retail channel among the top 25 food companies in the U.S., according to Information Resources. As for the first quarter of fiscal 2016, Smithfield sales reached $3.3 billion.

Still, Tyson is the biggest beef producer in the U.S., with 25% of the U.S. market. Cargill Meat Solutions, which is the umbrella organization of Cargill's North American beef, turkey, food service and food production, is the second-largest with 21% of the market; and Swift Foods, which is owned by Brazilian meat producer JBS S.A., is the third-largest beef producer with 18.5% of the market.

In early May, Tyson reported second-quarter results that saw $3.64 billion in beef sales, $2.74 billion in chicken sales and $1.19 billion in pork sales. In fiscal 2016, Tyson expects "domestic protein production" (chicken, beef, pork and turkey) to increase approximately 2% to 3% from fiscal 2015.

At the Jefferies 2016 Global Consumer Conference in Nantucket, Mass., in June, Tyson President Tom Hayes said a key factor in Tyson's improved performance in recent years has been higher, more stable margins in the company's chicken segment. He also said the company was seeing a payoff from investing in its retail packaged brands, citing recent momentum for the Ball Park brand hot dogs.

JBS USA is the other major participant in the U.S. food market and a subsidiary of Brazil's JBS S.A., and its stock is traded on Sao Paulo's stock exchange. JBS acquired Cargill's U.S.-based pork business in 2015 for $1.45 billion. It carries Pilgrim's Pride, one of the largest chicken producers in the U.S. In the first quarter, Pilgrim's Pride saw $1.96 billion in sales.

JBS also owns several other beef and pork brands, making its products easy targets for the more nationalistically minded people enjoying their Fourth of July barbecues.

So while many American cooks may not be grilling "all-American" meats this weekend, that won't stop them from eating them. According to survey company Nielsen, Americans will consume $289 million worth of chicken and $388 million worth of fresh ground beef this July 4 alone.

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