Is Foster Farms looking for a potential sale? Here’s what the California-based company said
Livingston-based Foster Farms, which also has a processing plant in Fresno, is considering selling the family-owned business, according to a report from Bloomberg.
Asked for comment on Wednesday, officials from the poultry-producer did not deny the claims in the business news source’s reporting, but released a statement.
“Foster Farms has and will continue to evaluate strategic partnerships — with customers, suppliers and other partners,” the statement said. “We are confident in our strategic plan, and will determine if partnerships further enhance our competitive position. Foster Farms is committed to keeping our employees, customers and community informed if any significant developments occur.”
The company is working with an adviser as it solicits takeover interest from bidders including private equity firms, Bloomberg reported. Demand for poultry products has spurred some consolidation in the industry, the news source says.
Tyson Foods Inc. considered buying Foster Farms in 2019, CNBC reported at the time. They did not reach a deal.
Foster Farms is the largest employer in Livingston in Merced County, and employs about 12,000 in multiple facilities in Fresno and Turlock, as well as in Alabama, South Carolina, Louisiana and other places.
The company’s revenue reached $2.5 billion in 2020, according to Forbes.
Family owned
The poultry business started when Max Foster erected a barn in 1939 for the baby turkeys he was starting to raise for other farmers, and launched a venture that soon included a chicken hatchery tended by Verda Foster, his wife.
The couple in 1941 started Foster Farms Dairy, a separate company now known as Crystal Creamery.
Foster Farms expanded its poultry operations and acquired other producers in the decades that followed its founding amid the Depression. It thrived as U.S. chicken consumption grew, eventually overtaking beef as the top-selling meat.
The company has drawn controversy over the years between salmonella scares and its response to COVID-19, which led the California Division of Occupational Health and Safety to cite the plant for not protecting workers.
The company’s plant in Livingston came under fire in August of 2020 after a major COVID-19 outbreak resulted in 392 employees testing positive for COVID-19 and nine employees who died after contracting the virus.
This story was originally published October 27, 2021 at 11:52 AM.
