The boilerplate American consumes more than 220 pounds of meat each year, or a little more than half a pound a twenty-four hour period, the 2d-highest rate globally. Overall, worldwide meat consumption is rising. By 2050, global meat consumption could peak 570 one thousand thousand tons, double the amount in 2008.

That forecast bodes well for food companies focused on producing meat to feed the masses. Here's a closer look at the meat-focused food stocks investors could consider to potentially turn a profit from our clamorous appetite for meat.

A child playfully pretending to eat a large cooked turkey.

Image source: Getty Images.

Top meat stocks

While several food companies focus on producing meat, the number of publicly traded options is dwindling. Here's a snapshot of some of the biggest meat companies traded on major stock exchanges  in 2021:

Meat stock

Ticker symbol

Marketplace cap

Company description

BRF Due south.A.

(NYSE:BRFS)

$three.vii billion

Brazilian producer of fresh and frozen poly peptide products.

Hormel Foods

(NYSE:HRL)

$24.5 billion

Producer of meat and nutrient products.

Pilgrim'south Pride

(NASDAQ:PPC)

$6.eight billion

Produces, processes, markets, and distributes craven products.

Sanderson Farms

(NASDAQ:SAFM)

$4.4 billion

Produces, processes, markets, and distributes chicken products.

Tyson Foods

(NYSE:TSN)

$28.vi billion

Producer of processed foods, including craven, beef, pork, and prepared foods.

Data source: Ycharts and company websites. Market cap as of Aug. 31, 2021.

Here's a closer wait at these meat-focused consumer staples stocks .

BRF South.A.

BRF is a global food company based in Brazil. It produced iv million tons of food in 2020 that it distributed to more than 117 countries. The company has diversified nutrient processing plants that include meat, margarine, pasta, and desserts. It has several top-selling brands, including Qualy (the top margarine brand in Brazil), Sadia (the most valuable food brand in Brazil), and Banvit (the leading poultry brand in Turkey).

BRF likewise has a leading meat business focused on poultry and pork. It'southward dominant in Brazilian exports to Asia, including 39% of the craven sent to Japan and 27% of the pork exported to Red china. In addition to selling meat products such as cold cuts and encased meats, BRF aims to revolutionize the pork manufacture in Brazil by leading the meat substitute market place. These factors make the visitor a potentially tasty fashion to play the growth of meat consumption in emerging markets, along with trends like plant-based meat substitutes.

Hormel Foods

Hormel is a leading global branded food company. It has 4 business segments:

  • Grocery products : This category includes shelf-stable food products sold in retail markets. Notable brands include SPAM, Skippy, Herdez, and Hormel.
  • Refrigerated foods : These products include branded and unbranded pork, beef, chicken, and turkey products sold for retail, foodservice, deli, and commercial employ.
  • Jennie-O Turkey Shop : This segment sells branded and unbranded turkey products for retail, foodservice, and commercial use.
  • International and other : This category includes products the visitor sells internationally, forth with international joint venture and royalty arrangements.

Hormel has been slowly shifting abroad from being a meat-axial company. Before 2013, information technology had a retail focus on pork and turkey. Still, it has transitioned across meat protein in contempo years and is becoming a global branded food visitor. It agreed to learn the Planters snack nuts brand from Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) for $3.35 billion in 2021, which volition reduce its exposure to meat products to 75% of its portfolio.

Pilgrim's Pride

Pilgrim's Pride is one of the earth's largest poultry producers. The company operates protein processing plants and prepared food facilities worldwide and primarily delivers its products to retailers and foodservice distributors.

Pilgrim'due south Pride took a significant pace to aggrandize and diversify its meat business organisation in 2021 by acquiring the meats and meal business of Kerry Consumer Foods. Kerry Meats is a major manufacturer of branded and private label meats, meat snacks, and to-go food products in the U.Chiliad. and Ireland, and Kerry Meals is a leading ethnic chilled and frozen-ready meals business in the U.One thousand. The transaction enhances Pilgrim's position in the global protein market.

Information technology'south worth noting that JBS (OTC:JBSAY), the largest meat processing company in the globe, offered to buy the rest of Pilgrim's Pride that information technology didn't already own in 2021. The Brazilian meatpacker initially acquired its 80.2% pale in Pilgrim's Pride in 2009. If Pilgrim'south Pride agrees to this deal and JBS closes the transaction, investors will have 1 less meat stock to consider.

Sanderson Farms

Sanderson Farms has many similarities with Pilgrim'south Pride. The company is also engaged in the production, processing, marketing, and distribution of chicken. It was the third-largest U.S. poultry producer in 2020, processing more than 4.8 billion pounds of meat.

Also, similar Pilgrim's Pride, Sanderson Farms received a takeover offer in 2021. The poultry producer agreed to a deal with privately held agronomical companies  Cargill and Continental Grain Company. They plan to combine Sanderson Farms with Wayne Farms, a subsidiary of Continental Grain, to form a new, privately held poultry business. If the bargain goes through, it could close past the cease of 2021 or early 2022, leaving investors with even fewer meat stock investment opportunities.

Tyson Foods

Tyson Foods is ane of the world's largest nutrient companies and a leader in animal-based protein. The visitor's segments include prepared foods, beef, pork, chicken, and international/other. Information technology has an extensive portfolio of products and brands, including Tyson, Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Subcontract, Ball Park, Wright, Aidells, IBP, and State Fair.

The company narrowed its focus on producing animate being poly peptide for human consumption by selling its pet care for business to General Mills (NYSE:GIS) for $1.2 billion in 2021. Information technology will continue to supply meat ingredients for the pet treats business, which volition compliment General Mills' existing portfolio.

In addition to fauna-based poly peptide, Tyson has expanded into plant-based products in recent years. Information technology launched a new brand for the Asia Pacific market in 2021. That follows the expansion of its Raised & Rooted plant-based protein make from the U.S. to Europe in tardily 2020.

Are meat stocks a good investment?

Demand for meat is growing, which should enable meat-focused producers to expand their profits in the coming years. That outlook is leading big food and agriculture companies to make moves to gobble upwards some of the largest poly peptide producers. However, investors still accept a few tasty options if they want to invest directly in the long-term growth potential of the global meat market.