{"id":1545674,"date":"2025-07-07T14:50:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T18:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1545674"},"modified":"2025-07-07T14:50:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T18:50:00","slug":"the-big-four-just-became-five-walmart-quietly-captures-the-beef-chain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/the-big-four-just-became-five-walmart-quietly-captures-the-beef-chain\/1545674\/","title":{"rendered":"The Big Four Just Became Five: Walmart Quietly Captures The Beef Chain"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Big Four Just Became Five: Walmart Quietly Captures The Beef Chain<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Via Beef News<\/a>,<\/em><\/p>\n

Walmart\u2019s new\u00a0case-ready beef facility in Olathe, Kansas<\/a>\u00a0isn\u2019t just another fulfillment center\u2014it\u2019s a chess move.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

A 300,000-square-foot plant. 600 new jobs. Cuts packed, labeled, and shipped straight to Walmart shelves. <\/strong>And all of it fed by one source:\u00a0Sustainable Beef LLC<\/a>, the North Platte processor Walmart bought into back in 2022.<\/p>\n

What the press release calls\u00a0\u201csupply chain transparency\u201d<\/em>\u00a0is really\u00a0supply chain capture<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re delivering more of what our customers want\u2014affordable food and quality they can trust.\u201d
\n\u2014\u00a0John Laney, EVP Food, Walmart U.S.<\/em><\/p>\n

Trust, sure. Just don\u2019t ask who sets the prices for the people raising the cattle.<\/p>\n

One Chain. One Gatekeeper.<\/h2>\n

Walmart now owns a piece of the processor (Sustainable Beef<\/a>), owns the packaging plant (Olathe<\/a>), and controls the retail outlet (Walmart stores). That\u2019s vertical integration\u2014top to bottom.<\/p>\n

Total investment? Nearly\u00a0$700 million.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t a backup plan. It\u2019s a power play.<\/p>\n

Walmart decides what cattle are worth
\n\tWalmart decides how it\u2019s cut and wrapped
\n\tWalmart decides what consumers pay<\/p>\n

The middle? Gone.<\/p>\n

Small Processors Wiped Out<\/h3>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

According to USDA\u2019s\u00a0Packers and Stockyards Report<\/a>, the number of federally inspected beef slaughter plants declined from 297 in 2013 to 271 by 2022. And that\u2019s just the headline.<\/p>\n

Nationwide, over half of small and mid-sized beef processors (those handling 5\u2013500 head per week) disappeared between 2000 and 2020,<\/strong> based on analysis from\u00a0Rocky Mountain Farmers Union<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Then COVID hit. According to\u00a0NIOSH and CDC data<\/a>, more than 480 meat and poultry facilities across the country reported COVID outbreaks. Many of the small ones\u2014already fragile\u2014never reopened.<\/p>\n

Nationwide, small and mid-sized beef processors have declined sharply<\/a> over the past two decades, with many regions\u2014including the High Plains\u2014now facing limited slaughter access and months-long backlogs.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

From Four to Five: The New Packing Order<\/h3>\n

The Big Four meatpackers\u2014Tyson, JBS, Cargill, and National Beef\u2014have dominated the industry for decades.<\/p>\n

Now Walmart is quietly becoming the fifth.<\/p>\n

It owns the processor (Sustainable Beef)
\n\tIt controls the packaging (Olathe)
\n\tIt owns the shelf (Walmart stores)<\/p>\n

And unlike the others, Walmart doesn\u2019t have to make money on meat. It can sell beef at cost to move more detergent, diapers, and digital subscriptions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a rancher? You\u2019re not negotiating with a buyer\u2014you\u2019re entering a\u00a0corporate conveyor belt<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nMon, 07\/07\/2025 – 10:50<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/food\/big-four-just-became-five-walmart-quietly-captures-beef-chain<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Big Four Just Became Five: Walmart Quietly Captures The Beef Chain Via Beef News, Walmart\u2019s new\u00a0case-ready beef facility in Olathe, Kansas\u00a0isn\u2019t just another fulfillment…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1545675,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1545674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1545674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1545674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1545674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1545675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1545674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1545674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1545674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}