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Slaughterhouses and Packing Plants

JBS: How a Small Goias Butcher Shop Became the World's Largest Meatpacker

José Batista Sobrinho opened Casa de Carnes Mineira in Anápolis in 1953, and his company later bought Swift and became a global beef power.

How did JBS begin?

According to the company history page on the JBS website, José Batista Sobrinho, nicknamed Zé Mineiro, founded Casa de Carnes Mineira in Anápolis, Goiás, in 1953. The shop had capacity for five cattle a day.

In 1957 he moved to Brasília and supplied beef during the construction of the new capital. In 1970 he bought a first plant in Formosa, Goiás, the company's first unit inspected under the national SIF system, and the Friboi name appeared.

From Goiás plants to a first export

Growth through the next decades came by buying plants. The Planaltina unit in the Federal District in 1980 raised processing from 100 to 300 animals a day, Luziânia in Goiás followed in 1988, and Anápolis came back in 1993 as the first plant with a deboning room.

The Goiânia unit was bought in 1996, and the company made its first export that year. In 1997 it acquired Barra dos Garças in Mato Grosso, where it founded the JBS management system, and in 1999 it bought Andradina, its first plant in São Paulo state, entering processed foods and the U.S. market.

The Key to JBS's Success

JBS grew through a long run of acquisitions, each paired with more capacity and wider markets. The company's own timeline shows the pattern: buy a plant, raise throughput, then move into a new market or protein.

The company's own timeline is the main source for these dates, so figures and dates are the company's account.

  • Starting small and local: five cattle a day in 1953, then plants bought one by one across Goiás and the Federal District.
  • Supplying a growth market: beef for Brasília's construction in 1957.
  • Inspection and export: the SIF-inspected Formosa plant in 1970 and the first export in 1996.
  • Foreign acquisitions: Swift Armour in Argentina in 2005, then Swift in the United States and Australia in 2007.
  • Going public: the 2007 São Paulo IPO, then the largest domestic IPO on record, financed international growth.
  • Diversifying proteins: control of Pilgrim's Pride in 2009 brought chicken, and Seara in 2013 added Brazilian poultry and pork.

Going global: Swift, Smithfield Beef and Five Rivers

Internationalization began in 2005 with the purchase of Swift Armour in Argentina. In 2007 JBS took its current name and bought Swift in the United States and Australia. Living History Farm notes that Swift & Company, which had bought a controlling interest in ConAgra Meats in 2002, was acquired by JBS in 2007.

In 2008 JBS acquired the Tasman Group in Australia, Smithfield Beef in the United States and the Five Rivers feedlots, which the company describes as handling two million animals a year. Bertin in Brazil followed in 2009.

Chicken, pork and leather

In 2009 JBS gained control of Pilgrim's Pride in the United States, entering chicken. In 2013 it acquired Seara in Brazil and Zenda, a Uruguayan leather business that made JBS the largest leather processor, along with XL Foods assets in the United States and Canada.

In 2015 it acquired Moy Park in Europe and Primo Smallgoods in Australia, and Cargill's U.S. pork operations, which the Wikiwand history of Excel prices at $1.45 billion, making JBS the second-largest U.S. pork processor. See also the Living History Farm account of the packing industry. The company's own timeline, hosted at the JBS history page, is the main source for these dates, and it does not mention National Beef or the later years of U.S. beef consolidation. Readers should treat the figures as the company's own account.

Recent years

In 2022 JBS USA announced TriOak Foods, acquired a majority stake in BioTech Foods and chose Florianópolis for a biotech innovation center. In 2023 the company marked 70 years.

The company timeline also lists the 2020 launch of the JBS Fund for the Amazon. For the cattle side of the business, farm.FM covers ranching, and a farm.FM story on Brazilian beef exports adds background.

Timeline

  1. 1953José Batista Sobrinho founds Casa de Carnes Mineira in Anápolis
  2. 1957Moves to Brasília to supply beef during its construction
  3. 1970Buys first plant in Formosa; the Friboi name appears
  4. 1996Buys the Goiânia unit and makes its first export
  5. 2005Buys Swift Armour in Argentina
  6. 2007IPO on the São Paulo Stock Exchange; buys Swift in the U.S. and Australia
  7. 2008Acquires Smithfield Beef and Five Rivers feedlots
  8. 2009Gains control of Pilgrim's Pride and takes over Bertin
  9. 2013Acquires Seara and Zenda
  10. 2015Acquires Cargill's U.S. pork operations, Moy Park and Primo Smallgoods

Frequently asked questions

Who founded JBS?

José Batista Sobrinho, known as Zé Mineiro, founded Casa de Carnes Mineira in Anápolis, Goiás, in 1953. The shop could handle five cattle a day.

What does JBS stand for?

The company took the name JBS in 2007, and the initials match its founder, José Batista Sobrinho. It had used the Friboi name since 1970.

When did JBS buy Swift?

In 2007 JBS bought Swift in the United States and Australia, after buying Swift Armour in Argentina in 2005.

When did JBS go public?

JBS held its IPO on the São Paulo Stock Exchange in 2007, then the largest domestic IPO on record, according to the company's timeline.

Sources and further reading

Profiles are compiled from public sources and reviewed against them. See our editorial policy to suggest a correction.

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