MEAT+POULTRY - November 2024 - 15

PROFILE SPECIFICS
Forty-two percent of respondents represented meat and
poultry processing companies with annual sales of more
than $100 million with operations that include slaughtering
and processing beef, pork and poultry. Ninety-five percent
of the companies' operations represented processing
and further-processing plants, while 43% reported their
operations were in the slaughter/fabrication category. Not
surprisingly, almost half (48%) of the companies' facilities
were located in the Midwest and Southeast.
The primary job roles of respondents represented chief
executive officer/executive managers, operations, sales
and marketing, and plant and general management. A
majority of those completing the survey (92%) reported that
their responses were on behalf of their entire company's
operations or regional operations versus just a single
processing plant (8%).
OUTLOOK OVERVIEW
When asked about their general outlook for 2024 and for
the year ahead, 44% of respondents said their outlook for
this year was " very positive " and for 2025, 46% said their
outlook was " very positive. "
That optimism was significantly lower when asked
about their outlook for the broader, US meat and poultry
industries as well as the global meat and poultry industries
in 2024, with only 17% and 13% respectively, reporting
" very positive " outlooks. Similar declines were reported
when respondents were asked about their outlooks for
the upcoming year, with only 19% of them reporting " very
positive " outlooks for the US industry in 2025 and 17%
responding with " very positive " outlooks for the global
meat and poultry industries.
One of the observations from the research team at
Cypress relating to this survey was about the difference
in respondents' outlook for their own companies versus
the industry at large. Marjorie Hellmer, president of
Cypress Research added that based on the survey results,
processors were hesitant to extend their optimism beyond
their own front doors.
" Within food processing, we feel that the most accurate
outlook is always at the company level, " she said.
Outlooks were a bit more bullish for the remainder
of 2024 among mid-size and smaller processors (which
includes those with reported annual sales of less than
$100 million), but it's still very positive overall. Ninetythree
percent of industry professionals representing those
companies with annual sales of more than $100 million
were " somewhat " or " very positive " about their company's
outlook for this year versus 39% of small and midsize
processors.
Conversely, when looking to the year ahead, many of
those same mid-size and smaller company representatives
General
industry
outlook for
2024
1%
1 12 43 44
60
12%
44%
43%
VERY
NEGATIVE
YOUR
COMPANY
1%
23 59 13
17% 23%
60%
US
MEAT AND
POULTRY
INDUSTRIES
13%
27%
59%
GLOBAL
MEAT AND
POULTRY
INDUSTRIES
17 1 27
www.meatpoultry.com | 11.24 | MEAT+POULTRY 15
Participants'
job category
R&D/
QA
Plant/
general
mgr.
13%
15%
Ops./
manuf./
prod.
16%
Sales/
marketing
Purchasing
6%
8%
42%
CEO/
Exec.
mgmt.
VERY
POSITIVE
SOMEWHAT
POSITIVE
SOMEWHAT
NEGATIVE
6 42 16 15
13 8
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MEAT+POULTRY - November 2024

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