ContiGroup Companies, Inc (CGC) was founded by
Simon Fribourg in
Arlon
Arlon (; lb, Arel ; nl, Aarlen ; german: Arel ; wa, Årlon; la, Orolaunum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in and capital of the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes, Belgium. With a population of just over 28,000, it is t ...
, Belgium, in 1813 as a
grain-trading firm. Formerly known as Continental Grain, ContiGroup has expanded into a
multinational corporation
A multinational company (MNC), also referred to as a multinational enterprise (MNE), a transnational enterprise (TNE), a transnational corporation (TNC), an international corporation or a stateless corporation with subtle but contrasting senses, i ...
with offices and facilities in 10 countries while employing more than 13,500 people worldwide. Today, CGC is one of the largest
privately held corporations in the United States.
History
* 1813: The Company is founded by Simon Fribourg in
Arlon
Arlon (; lb, Arel ; nl, Aarlen ; german: Arel ; wa, Årlon; la, Orolaunum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in and capital of the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes, Belgium. With a population of just over 28,000, it is t ...
, Belgium.
* 1890–1899: The Company expands into flour milling and builds its first mill in Arlon.
* 1914–1917: Offices moved to London due to the outbreak of World War I.
* 1919: Operations resume in Antwerp under the name ‘Compagnie Continentale d'Importation’.
* 1921: Expanded operations to the United States by establishing ‘Continental Grain’ in Chicago and then in New York.
* 1928: Continental Grain buys a grain elevator in
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
. This would be the first of seven it would hold by 1935.
* 1940: The Fribourg family leaves Europe to settle in the United States. This was due to the outbreak of World War II.
* 1944: The Company moves its headquarters from Paris to New York and the first CEO (
Michel Fribourg) is elected.
* 1964: Continental Grain makes the first major grain sale by any US company to the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. The deal called for the sale of one million tons of wheat to Exportkhleb, a soviet grain-purchasing agency.
* 1965: Continental Grain ventures into the poultry business with its purchase of a majority interest in Allied Mills. This new division includes livestock production operations as well as processing operations.
* 1970: Operations at Allied Mills poultry division is expanded to include seven poultry processing facilities as well as three egg production and processing units.
* 1971: Continental Grain acquired Oroweat, a baking company
* 1972: Another major sale to the Soviet Union is finalized and 10 million tons of grain is sent overseas.
* 1974: Continental Grain expands its ownership of Allied Mills and makes it a wholly owned subsidiary.
* 1975: Coronado Feeders is acquired by the company and establishes its first business venture into cattle feeding.
* 1978: Another cattle feeding business, XIT Feeders, is acquired by Continental Grain.
* 1978: A plant in
Dobson, North Carolina
Dobson is a town in Dobson Township, Surry County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 1,396. It is the county seat of Surry County. Dobson is the home of the Shelton Vineyards, the largest winery in No ...
is acquired by the Poultry Division of Continental Grain.
* 1979: Colorado Beef is acquired, further expanding the company's cattle feeding business.
* 1979: In a joint venture with Charoen Pokphand, Continental Grain opens the first foreign-owned feed mill in Chinese history. The new venture is called Conti Chia Tai International (CCTI).
* 1981: Grant County Feeders is acquired into the company's cattle feeding business.
* 1981: Oroweat acquired Brownberry
* 1984: Oroweat is sold to
General Foods
General Foods Corporation was a company whose direct predecessor was established in the United States by Charles William Post as the Postum Cereal Company in 1895.
The company changed its name to "General Foods" in 1929, after several corporate ...
; Brownberry is sold to
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice is an American private equity company. It is one of the oldest private equity investment firms in the world. Founded in 1978, CD&R has managed the investment of more than $30 billion in approximately 90 businesses, repre ...
* 1998: Continental Grain ventures into the pork business with its purchase of a majority interest in
Premium Standard Farms, Inc
Smithfield Hog Production Division, formerly Premium Standard Farms, Inc. (PSF), is a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods, Inc. PSF was founded in 1988 with the aim of creating a standardized method to produce premium pork. To accomplish this goal, t ...
.
* 1999: Continental Grain changes its name to ContiGroup Companies, Inc after the sale of the company's commodity marketing business to Cargill.
* 2000: The Animal Nutrition Division is sold to
Hubbard Feeds of
Mankato, Minnesota
Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth County, Minnesota, Blue Earth, Nicollet County, Minnesota, Nicollet, and Le Sueur County, Minnesota, Le Sueur counties in the state of Minnesota. The population was 44,488 according to the 2020 United States ...
.
* 2000: ContiFinancial, an early originator of subprime loans, went bankrupt; ContiGroup was the major shareholder.
* 2002:
Wayne Farms
Wayne Farms LLC is an American producer and processor of poultry based in Oakwood, Georgia.
As a subsidiary of ContiGroup, Wayne Farms operates hatcheries, feed mills, finishing farms, and processing facilities to supply poultry to retail and ...
purchases its thirteenth processing facility at
College Park, Georgia
College Park is a city in Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton and Clayton County, Georgia, Clayton counties, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, adjacent to the southern boundary of the city of Atlanta. As of the 2020 United States Census, 20 ...
.
* 2004: Wayne Farms begins building a new further-processing facility in
Decatur, Alabama
Decatur (dɪˈkeɪtə(r)) is the largest city and county seat of Morgan County (with a portion also in Limestone County) in the U.S. state of Alabama. Nicknamed "The River City", it is located in northern Alabama on the banks of Wheeler Lake ...
.
* 2013: Wayne Farms purchases a processing facility in
Dothan, Alabama
Dothan () is a city in Dale, Henry, and Houston counties and the Houston county seat in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is Alabama's eighth-largest city, with a population of 71,072 at the 2020 census. It is near the state's southeastern corner, ...
.
ContiGroup businesses
Headquartered in New York, NY, ContiGroup has offices and facilities in 10 countries while employing more than 13,500 people worldwide. CGC's businesses include ventures into poultry, pork, beef, animal feed,
aquaculture
Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...
, and flour
milling. Additionally, CGC also provides investment services in
securities
A security is a tradable financial asset. The term commonly refers to any form of financial instrument, but its legal definition varies by jurisdiction. In some countries and languages people commonly use the term "security" to refer to any for ...
, real estate, and private equity through its ContiInvestment business unit.
Wayne Farms
Formerly known as the Poultry Division of ContiGroup Companies, Wayne Farms LLC is the sixth-largest
vertically integrated
In microeconomics, management and international political economy, vertical integration is a term that describes the arrangement in which the supply chain of a company is integrated and owned by that company. Usually each member of the supply ...
producer and processor of poultry in the United States. Since its spin-off in 1965, Wayne Farms has grown its processing capacity to 250 million chickens annually. Its 13 processing facilities span the southeast region of the United States with its corporate headquarters located in
Oakwood, Georgia
Oakwood is a city in Hall County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Gainesville, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 4,822 at the 2020 census, up from 3,970 in 2010. Oakwood is home to the University of North Georgia Gain ...
.
ContiAsia
Headquartered in Hong Kong, ContiAsia has been operating in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
for almost three decades. ContiAsia operates more than thirty companies that are classified into one of its four business units: Conti Chia Tai International, ContiFeed Group, Great Wall Northeast Asia Corp, and Meat Merchandising.
* Conti Chia Tai International (CCTI) is a joint venture (50/50) with Thailand's largest agricultural company,
Charoen Pokphand
The Charoen Pokphand Group Company, Ltd. (CP) (; ) is a Thai conglomerate based in Bangkok. It is Thailand's largest private company and the largest privately held Royal Warrant holder of the Thai Royal Family. The company describes itself as havi ...
. It operates five feed mills, an aqua feed mill, and a premix plant in
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
Province in southern China.
* ContiFeed Group is majority-owned and operated by ContiGroup. With operations throughout China, production takes place mainly in central and northern China. These sites include four feed mills, more than ninety distribution nodes, and a poultry breeder farm and hatchery.
* Great Wall Northeast Asia Corporation (GWNAC) is only partially owned by ContiGroup. With operations located in the northeast and on the east coast of China, GWNAC operates six feed mills, four poultry breeder farms and hatcheries, five poultry processing plants, and three further processing facilities.
* Meat Merchandising is based in Hong Kong and
Panyu
Panyu, alternately romanized as Punyu, is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China. It was a separate county-level city before its incorporation into modern Guangzhou in 200 ...
. Its primary mission is to market and sell American and other foreign frozen poultry products in China. This is the primary method by which
Wayne Farms
Wayne Farms LLC is an American producer and processor of poultry based in Oakwood, Georgia.
As a subsidiary of ContiGroup, Wayne Farms operates hatcheries, feed mills, finishing farms, and processing facilities to supply poultry to retail and ...
and
Sanderson Farms
Sanderson Farms is an American poultry producer which is based in Laurel, Mississippi. It is the third largest poultry producer in the United States and produces 13.65 million chickens per week.
On July 22, 2022, it merged with Wayne Farms to fo ...
’ poultry products are sold in China.
Premium Standard Farms
Formed in 1988, Premium Standard Farms, Inc (PSF) was founded with the aim of creating a standardized method for which to produce premium pork. To accomplish this goal, the
company
A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...
decided to pursue full
vertical integration
In microeconomics, management and international political economy, vertical integration is a term that describes the arrangement in which the supply chain of a company is integrated and owned by that company. Usually each member of the suppl ...
– the first in the United States to do so. In 1998, ContiGroup Companies, Inc (formerly known as Continental Grain Company) acquired a majority interest in PSF. Today, Premium Standard Farms is the second largest pork producer and the sixth largest processor in the United States with operations in Missouri, North Carolina, and Texas. The company sells fresh and frozen pork products to domestic retailers, further processors,
foodservice
The foodservice (US English) or catering (British English) industry includes the businesses, institutions, and companies which prepare meals outside the home. It includes restaurants, school and hospital cafeterias, catering operations, and many ...
providers and export customers from more than 20 countries.
In 2007 Premium Standard Farms was acquired by
Smithfield Foods
Smithfield Foods, Inc., is an American pork producer and food-processing company based in Smithfield, Virginia, in the United States, and an independent subsidiary of WH Group. Founded in 1936 as the Smithfield Packing Company by Joseph W. Luter ...
.
ContiLatin
As a business unit with operations in the United States, the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
, and in
Central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
and South America, ContiLatin manages many operations throughout the western hemisphere. The company operates a
shrimp
Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...
farm and hatchery in
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
and it also runs integrated poultry operations in both
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
and
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal
, national_motto = "Fi ...
. ContiLatin also operates feed and flour mills in the
French West Indies
The French West Indies or French Antilles (french: Antilles françaises, ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Antiy fwansez) are the parts of France located in the Antilles islands of the Caribbean:
* The two overseas departments of:
** Guadeloupe, ...
and recently opened a new high-tech flour mill in
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
with the Haitian government in a joint venture. Additionally, the company took over the grain trading business in
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...
becoming the largest trading company established in the region, also the company is invested in a joint venture in Atlantic Salmon of Maine and Ducktrap River Fish Farm to produce
salmon
Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...
, shrimp and seafood
pâté
''Pâté'' ( , , ) is a paste, pie or loaf filled with a forcemeat. Common forcemeats include ground meat from pork, poultry, fish or beef; fat, vegetables, herbs, spices and either wine or brandy (often cognac or armagnac). It is often served ...
. All of ContiLatin's operations receive continuous research and technical support from the division's Georgia-based ContiTec unit.
Five Rivers Ranch
Formed in May 2005, Five Rivers Ranch Cattle Feeding LLC is an independently operated joint venture between CGC's
ContiBeef and Smithfield Beef Group's MF Cattle Feeding companies. Through the combined feeding capability of Smithfield's four feed yards and ContiBeef's six feed yards, Five Rivers Ranch has become the largest cattle feeding operation in the world with a combined feeding capacity of more than 800,000 head. With its headquarters in
Loveland, Colorado
The City of Loveland is the home rule municipality that is the second most populous municipality in Larimer County, Colorado, United States. Loveland is situated north of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver and is the 14th most populous city ...
, this new company employs more than 650 employees in facilities throughout Texas,
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
,
Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
,
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
, and
Idaho
Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...
.
In 2009, Five Rivers, or "ContiBeef" was acquired by Brazilian protein producer
JBS. In 2010 Five Rivers took over Calfsource.
ContiInvestments
ContiInvestments is the financial wing of ContiGroup companies. It handles a variety of assets including investments in securities, real estate, and private equity. Additionally, it holds considerable investments in the areas of food and agribusiness, insurance, health care, financial services, transportation, and computer systems and software.
See also
*
References
External links
*
Wayne Farms LLC websitePremium Standard Farms, Inc websiteFive Rivers Ranch Cattle Feeding Company website*
*
Smithfield Foods press release regarding Five Rivers Ranch*
Colorado State University press release regarding Five Rivers Ranch
{{Authority control
1813 establishments in the Southern Netherlands
Privately held companies based in New York City
Agriculture companies of the United States
Food manufacturers of the United States
Multinational food companies
Poultry companies
Meat processing in the United States
Meat companies of the United States
Brand name meats
Grain companies
Food and drink companies established in 1813