Pilgrim’s Pride to settle civil poultry price-fixing claims

https://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/17661-pilgrims-pride-to-settle-civil-poultry-price-fixing-claims

• Pilgrim’s Pride has agreed to pay $75 million to settle price-fixing claims made against the company by foodservice, institutional and retail poultry buyers.
  • The settlement goes back to litigation filed on January 1, 2008, that claimed poultry processors conspired to fix prices by coordinating production.
• According to Pilgrim’s Pride, the company does not admit any liability to the broiler antitrust civil litigation, but it does believe a settlement is in the best interest of the company and its shareholders.
  • This settlement in the civil price fixing case does not have any impact on the antitrust price fixing case that was introduced in June 2020.
• The civil agreement is subject to court approval and the payment will be reflected in Pilgrim’s Pride’s Q4 2020 financial results.
  • If approved by the courts, this settlement will be the largest so far in the battle over alleged collusion among poultry processors.

Brazilian beef exports set record for 2020

https://www.meatingplace.com/Industry/News/Details/96655

• According to a Brazilian beef industry association, Abrafrigo, Brazilian beef exports increased 8 percent in 2020 to 2.02 million metric tons.
  • Revenue from this increase reached $8.4 billion, up 11 percent from 2019.
• Abrafrigo expects imports to continue to increase into 2021 by 5 percent in volume.
• China was the largest importer of Brazilian beef in 2020 with 1.18 million metric tons through the continent and Hong Kong.
  • Second largest importer was Egypt with 127,953 metric tons of Brazilian beef, followed by Chile with 90,403 metric tons.
• The U.S. also contributed to this record as we imported 59,544 metric tons of Brazilian beef, up 53.8 percent year-over-year, which put us in the top four Brazilian beef importers in 2020.
  • The opening of the U.S. market to Brazil’s fresh beef in February 2020 caused this increase.

Beef processing plant in Pleasant Hope expected to open in upcoming weeks

https://www.ky3.com/2021/01/10/beef-processing-plant-in-pleasant-hope-expected-to-open-in-upcoming-weeks/

• Pleasant Hope, MO will soon be the home to Missouri Prime Beef Packers, a 100,000-square-foot beef processing plant, according to Nextgen Cattle Company.
  • Production is supposed to get underway in late January and the plant will have the capacity to process up to 500 hd./day.
• Missouri Prime Beef Packers will be located in a facility previously operated by Moon Ridge Foods; a pork processor that called it quits in 2018.
• According to Nick Paschkov, COO of Missouri Prime Beef Packers, the company focuses on food and employee safety and product quality over volume production.
• Missouri Prime Beef Packers will provide branded beef programs, something that is vital during a time when people want to know where their foods comes from, said co-owner Stacy Davies.

Taco Bell replaces potatoes with plant-based meat made from oats

https://wobm.com/taco-bell-replaces-potatoes-with-plant-based-meat-made-from-oats/

• During this past summer in the UK, Taco Bell announced that it would be cutting potatoes from their menu, a decision that didn’t go over well with vegans or vegetarians since they often swap out beef for fried potatoes.
• The fast food chain is now trying to cater to plant-forward eaters as they have added plant-based meat options to the menu at Taco Bell locations throughout the UK and Europe.
  • This plant-based meat option will be made out of oats, peas and fava bean protein.
• There is no word yet as to how soon this trend will find its way to U.S. Taco Bells.

Boxed beef prices

www.nationalbeefwire.com

• Choice boxed beef: $207.69 (+0.89)
• Select boxed beef: $195.74 (-0.95)