Tyson Foods is an American multinational food company formed in 1935. The group is headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas, US. The company’s primary focus is on beef, chicken and pork. It process, market the products all over the world through its subsidiaries. Its primary brand includes Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm, Ball Park, Wright Brand, Aidells, and State Fair (Tyson Foods, 2021). With operations in 10 countries serving consumers and customers on five continents, the company is a reach-in worldwide. Tyson Foods is one of the most valuable food brands in the world. Porter’s five forces model is a valuable tool to identify threats and opportunities faced by Tysons Foods in the food industry in the US and worldwide.
Competitive Rivalry in the Market
The processed meat food industry all over the world is very competitive. The food industry is predominated by conglomerate. In the US, four companies control the market. Those companies are Tyson Foods, Cargill, JBS USA and Smithfield. These companies control around 75% of the market share in the US. This group led the industry by miles based on sales (Statista, 2021). Tyson dominates the market in the US. It is a world leader in meat export. The revenue of JBS USA & Cargill is $51.859 Billion (Fortune, 2020) and $114.6 Billion (Forbes, 2020) respectively. Tyson is ranked 78th in fortune 500 and generated revenue of $43.185 Billion (Fortune, 2021). Tyson Foods holds a slight edge in marker over its competitors due to its diversified products & presence in the majority of the world. It had made it difficult for their rivals to compete with them.
Threat of Substitutes
The food industry of the world is highly competitive. The clientele always has multiple options to choose from. Different brands are offering similar products. So to keep with them, they must not compromise on their products while maintaining the prices in control. Tyson Foods enjoys an oligopoly in the National market. Climate activist is raising concern against meat production. The livestock industry contributes around 15% of global greenhouse emission, and meat production contributes to the depletion of water resources and drives deforestation (Dutkiewicz. J, 2020). Tyson Foods is moving the world. It invested in Silicon Valley startup Memphis Meat by Bill Gates (Garfield. L, 2018). The company is investing and moving with the era. The threat of substitution is low due to the scale of the economy.
Threat of New Entrants or Players in the Market
A startup requires a lot of capital to enter the food industry. It has a complex supply chain system. You have to invest in high means and provide financial incentive to join the market. It is pretty difficult to compete with a market leader such as Tyson Foods and JBS USA. Tyson foods are at that because of its brand credibility and history. The majority of the products are similar in the food industry. Startups will have to develop innovative and better outcomes such as lab-grown meat (Simon, M. 2018). The market is concentrated. It is difficult for newcomers to disrupt it and take away their share from the market leaders. The majority of the companies are vertically integrated. Any big company can acquire a small company to make a new brand, and venture into a new field can pose some threat. The threat to the entrant is very low.
Bargaining Power of Buyers
The main clientele of these manufacturers is retail giants such as The Metro, Carrefour, Tesco & Wal-Mart. These buyers expect higher power due to the demand for products. The market is saturated; it provides them with other options. All of these companies market their product through retailers. Wal-Mart alone has nearly a 29% market share in the food market Sara Lee, Hormel Foods, Tyson Foods, ConAgra and Kraft all report between 11 and 16% of their net sales revenue is attributable to Wal-Mart (Brian L.B. and Ginn, B, 2011). Their massive clientele is dependent on these companies. When there are multiple brands in the market with the same products, they can switch to other manufacture due to an increase in cost & better quality. It provides them with higher negotiating power with manufacturers. The retailer giants need to work with environmentally friendly manufacturers. Retail giants hold higher bargaining work here.
Bargaining Power of Suppliers
Suppliers hold higher power if a few suppliers dominate the industry, it provides more products in the market & it is future integrated (Porte, 1979). Livestock is the primary raw material in the industry. The basic supplies which are directly linked to your products can impact them. The rise in the price of raw materials can affect the cost of the products. Supplier can drag the profit margins low due to importance of its material. It can affect it in the market due to the saturation of the products. The supplier can shift its raw material to other companies, and it can impact the company. So they hold medium level bargain power against the company.
References
Brian L. B and Ginn. B. (2011). US Meatpacking: Dynamic Forces of Change in a Mature Industry. Available at: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/6502773.pdf
Dutkiewicz. J (2020) The Climate Activists Who Dismiss Meat Consumption Are Wrong. Available at:https://newrepublic.com/article/159153/climate-change-dismiss-meat-emissions-wrong
Forbes. (2020). Cargill. Available at:https://www.forbes.com/companies/cargill/?sh=1c42f31f1960
Fortune. (2020). JBS. Available at: https://fortune.com/company/jbs/global500/
Fortune. (2021). Tyson Foods. Available at: https://fortune.com/company/tyson-foods/fortune500/
Garfield. L. (2018). One of the world’s biggest meat companies just invested in a Bill Gates-backed startup that makes lab-grown meat. Available at:https://www.businessinsider.com/tyson-lab-grown-meat-startup-memphis-meats-bill-gates-2018-1
Porter., E. M (1979) How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy. Available at: https://hbr.org/1979/03/how-competitive-forces-shape-strategy
Simon, M. (2018). Lab-Grown Meat Is Coming, Whether You Like It or Not. Available at: https://www.wired.com/story/lab-grown-meat/
Statista. (2021). Leading meat and poultry processing companies in the United States in 2020, based on sales. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/264898/major-us-meat-and-poultry-companies-based-on-sales/
Tyson Foods. (2021). What We Do. Available at: https://www.tysonfoods.com/who-we-are/our-story/what-we-do