A Look Back at the Smithfield Foods History

Over the years, Smithfield Foods has completed a series of acquisitions that have made us a global food company with annual revenues approaching $12 billion, producing more than 50 brands of pork and turkey products as well as more than 200 gourmet foods. And in every aspect of our business, we remain 100 percent committed to providing good food responsibly.

2000 - 1966

  • 2000
    Acquired Murphy Farms, Inc., the largest hog producer in the U.S. The combined hog raising entity, Murphy-Brown, LLC, turned Smithfield Foods into the leading hog producer in the world
  • 1999
    Purchased Carroll's Foods, the nation’s fourth-largest hog producer
  • 1998
    Acquired Circle Four Farms, a longtime hog production partner
  • 1996
    Smithfield Lean Generation Pork™ introduced on a large scale in supermarkets, revolutionizing the industry
  • 1995
    Purchased John Morrell & Co., expanding its reach throughout the Midwest from Minnesota to Texas
  • 1994
    First Smithfield Lean Generation Pork™ debuted in foodservice operations
  • 1992
    Opened the world's largest and most modern meat processing facility in Tar Heel, N.C.
  • 1990
    Smithfield Foods differentiates itself in the marketplace, managing its supply of hogs from conception to processing to produce more consistent, higher-quality, leaner meat products
  • 1984
    Purchased Patrick Cudahy™, a 100-year-old Wisconsin company known for its sweet apple-wood smoked sausages, bacon and ham, Smithfield Foods' first presence outside the East coast
  • 1981
    Purchased Gwaltney® of Smithfield, its first major acquisition, expanding Smithfield Foods into the Eastern region
  • 1987
    Began to produce its own hogs through a joint venture with Carroll's Foods
  • 1986
    Acquired Baltimore's Schluderberg-Kurdle, or Esskay
  • 1975
    Luter rejoined the company as chairman and CEO