Great maneuvers in the segment of meat Usa. The US group Cal-Maine Foods, in fact, has acquired a processing plant for broilers from the meat giant Tyson Foods, long in trouble. The plant acquired is that of Dexter in Missouri, one of the four of which, last summer, Tyson Foods had announced the closure in an attempt to reduce costs in a context of slowing demand and collapse of profits. 

According to Cal-Maine, the agreement, agreed for an undisclosed sum, also provides for the transfer of ownership of a hatchery and a feed factory in the same location. The company, however, plans to convert the broiler processing plant into an egg grading plant. Cal-Maine has emphasized that it previews to contact some of the breeders who had supplied the plant of Tyson in order to see if they will pass to another business, that is that of producing eggs.

"This transaction is consistent with our growth strategy, which is to expand our business through selective acquisitions, in addition to our organic growth initiatives -says Sherman Miller, president and ceo of Cal-Maine-. Dexter’s headquarters provides an important opportunity to expand our geographic presence and enhance our ability to serve our valued customers with additional production and distribution capabilities in Missouri and surrounding markets. As we expand our market presence, we remain focused on the efficient and sustainable management of our existing and acquired activities and the satisfaction of our customers' requests".

The deal closes a difficult december for Cal-Maine who temporarily stopped production in a Kansas plant following an outbreak of avian influenza. Not only. In early December, a US court ordered some of the largest egg producers, including Cal-Maine, to pay $ 17.7 million in damages to a number of food companies: The giants, in fact, were found guilty in a long lawsuit of price fraud. Under federal law, the amount has been tripled to about $ 53 million.

The plant, as mentioned, is part of the four that Tyson Foods has decided to close: the other tires are in Corydon, Indiana; in Noel, Missouri and North Little Rock, Arkansas. But Tyson’s "rationalization" did not stop there: last September, it was announced the intention to close two of its ready-to-use meat production plants after it closed two poultry plants in Virginia and Arkansas in march 2023, which employed more than 1.600 people. A difficult situation, aggravated by the accounts of the year ended at the end of September, which presents a loss of 649 million dollars, compared to the profit of 3,25 billion dollars of the previous year: sales amounted to 52,88 billion dollars, against 53,28 billion the previous year.