National Beef facts for kids
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| Private, LLC | |
| Industry | Meatpacking |
| Founded | 1992 |
| Headquarters | Kansas City, United States |
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Key people
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Tim Klein, (President & CEO) |
| Products | Beef |
| Revenue |  US$ 7.3 billion (2017) |
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Number of employees
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8,200 |
| Parent | Marfrig (82%) |
National Beef is a big company that processes beef. It is based in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. The company makes fresh beef, chilled beef, and other beef products. These products are sold to customers all over the world.
National Beef is owned by a company called Marfrig. It focuses on different types of beef products. These include boxed beef, beef ready for consumers, and special cuts of beef. The company also makes a type of leather called wet blue leather. National Beef is known as one of the four largest beef processors in the United States.
Contents
How National Beef Began
National Beef started in 1992. This happened when a company called Farmland Industries bought a place where animals are processed in Dodge City, Kansas. A year later, they bought another location in Liberal, Kansas. They named this new company Farmland National Beef LLC.
In 1997, another company, U.S. Premium Beef Ltd, bought a small part of National Beef. This made National Beef jointly owned by both companies. National Beef also bought a large part of the Kansas City Steak Company. By 2001, National Beef began making beef products ready for consumers. These products were made at plants in Hummels Wharf, Pennsylvania and Moultrie, Georgia.
In 2003, National Beef became the fourth largest beef processor in the U.S. U.S. Premium Beef Ltd then bought most of the company. They teamed up with a management group and Beef Products Inc. to form National Beef Packing Co. LLC.
Growing the Company
In 2006, National Beef bought Brawley Beef, LLC. This plant was in Brawley, California. It was built in 2001 and could process over 400,000 cattle each year. National Beef said this purchase would help them work with more cattle farmers. It also helped them grow their business in the western U.S. The Brawley plant closed in 2014.
Three years later, National Beef bought the Prime Tanning facility. This plant was in St. Joseph, Missouri. It became National Beef Leathers LLC. After this, the company said they could add more value to the animal hides. These hides came from their beef processing plants.
In 2011, Leucadia National Corporation bought most of National Beef Packing Company. Five years later, National Beef planned to make its facilities bigger. These were the Dodge City and Liberal, Kansas, locations. This would help them handle and ship more products.
In 2018, a Brazilian company called Marfrig bought 51 percent of National Beef. This cost $969 million. With this purchase, a beef patty processing plant was added to National Beef's business. This plant was in North Baltimore, Ohio. One year later, National Beef bought Iowa Premium, LLC. This company was in Tama, Iowa.
Where National Beef Operates
National Beef is the fourth largest beef processor in the U.S. It makes over $7 billion in sales every year. National Beef products are sold to many different places. These include grocery stores, club stores, and food service providers. They also sell to the U.S. military.
National Beef has operations in several U.S. states. These include Liberal, Dodge City, and Kansas City, Kansas. They also have locations in Hummels Wharf, Pennsylvania, and Moultrie, Georgia. Another location is in St. Joseph, Missouri. The main office is in Kansas City, Missouri. National Beef also has offices in other countries. These are in Chicago, Illinois; Tokyo; Seoul; and Hong Kong.
National Beef uses a special system for food safety. It is called the BioLogic Food Safety System. This system trains employees and checks food quality. The company also follows international food safety rules. These rules are called the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) audit criteria. National Beef has been approved by a group called the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
What National Beef Sells
Boxed Beef
National Beef processes and supplies fresh and chilled beef. They also make beef that has been processed further. These products are sold to customers around the world. Their beef processing plants are in Liberal, Dodge City, Kansas, and Tama, Iowa.
Consumer Ready Beef
This beef is already trimmed and prepared. It comes from the Liberal and Dodge City, Kansas, plants. Then, it is sent to special facilities in Hummels Wharf, Pennsylvania, and Moultrie, Georgia. Here, the beef is packaged in different ways. This makes it ready for grocery stores.
Branded Box Beef
National Beef has many different types of beef brands. These include natural beef, Angus brands, and special brands. Some examples are Black Canyon Angus Beef, Hereford brands, NatureSource Natural Beef, and HyPlains Heritage Farms. These brands offer different choices for beef needs.
Portion Control Beef
National Beef owns a company called Kansas City Steak Company. This company sells beef that is already cut into specific sizes. They sell to restaurants and stores. They also sell directly to people through the Internet and mail.
Wet Blue Leather
National Beef runs the largest wet blue tannery in the world. Wet blue tanning is the first step in making leather from animal hides. These hides are raw or have been preserved with salt. From their facility in St. Joseph, Missouri, National Beef sends these hides to other companies. These companies finish making the leather. The finished leather is used in cars, fancy goods, clothes, and furniture.
Product Safety Recalls
Sometimes, a company might have to recall a product. This means they ask people to return it because there might be a problem.
In June 2013, National Beef recalled almost 23,000 pounds of ground beef. This was because it might have had E. coli bacteria.
On August 1, 2013, the company recalled 50,000 pounds of ground beef products. This was also because of possible E. coli contamination. All these recalls were done by the company voluntarily. No one reported getting sick from these products.
See also
- Impact of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic on the meat industry in the United States
