Latest news with #meatpacking
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
The Mystery Explained: Why Hot Dogs Come in 10-Packs but Buns in 8
Have you ever bought hot dogs and buns for a cookout, only to realize you're either two buns short or two wieners over? You'd think that, by now, the makers of America's favorite ballpark snack would have solved this weird puzzle. Think again. Now, this might sound like a silly conversation to have at a time when many folks are facing much more prescient problems. And you're right—but hear me out because sometimes solving little mysteries gives us the courage to solve the bigger ones. Baby steps. Come with me on this curious and historic journey to find out why we can't get our hot dog to bun ratio sorted. Before about 1940, hot dogs were bought and sold from local butcher shops and were not packaged as they are today. Shoppers would simply ask the butcher for the amount of sausages they needed and would be charged by the pound. This brings us up to modern day meat packaging, wherein meat is still typically sold by the pound. One standard American hot dog is approximately 1.6 ounces. If you do the math, that means that it takes 10 hotdogs to get you to one pound. It simply makes sense, from a meat-packing and butchering perspective, to sell them by the pound, not by the piece. Similarly, modern bakehouses are optimized for efficiency with standards and systems set firmly in place. Buns are typically baked in clusters of four in pans designed to produce eight rolls apiece. It simply doesn't make sense for most bakeries to completely upend their production systems and pan designs to accommodate the average number of hot dogs in a pack. The light at the end of the tunnel: In 2022, Heinz and Wonder Bread partnered to solve this very issue in Canada by brokering a partnership to create 10-packs of buns. Maybe a similar deal is on the horizon for the United States. In the meantime, though, we Americans will just have to find a use for those two extra sausages. My suggestion? Cut those suckers up and make a small batch of pigs in blankets for brunch the next day. Everybody wins! Read the original article on ALLRECIPES
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
The Mystery Explained: Why Hot Dogs Come in 10-Packs but Buns in 8
Have you ever bought hot dogs and buns for a cookout, only to realize you're either two buns short or two wieners over? You'd think that, by now, the makers of America's favorite ballpark snack would have solved this weird puzzle. Think again. Now, this might sound like a silly conversation to have at a time when many folks are facing much more prescient problems. And you're right—but hear me out because sometimes solving little mysteries gives us the courage to solve the bigger ones. Baby steps. Come with me on this curious and historic journey to find out why we can't get our hot dog to bun ratio sorted. Before about 1940, hot dogs were bought and sold from local butcher shops and were not packaged as they are today. Shoppers would simply ask the butcher for the amount of sausages they needed and would be charged by the pound. This brings us up to modern day meat packaging, wherein meat is still typically sold by the pound. One standard American hot dog is approximately 1.6 ounces. If you do the math, that means that it takes 10 hotdogs to get you to one pound. It simply makes sense, from a meat-packing and butchering perspective, to sell them by the pound, not by the piece. Similarly, modern bakehouses are optimized for efficiency with standards and systems set firmly in place. Buns are typically baked in clusters of four in pans designed to produce eight rolls apiece. It simply doesn't make sense for most bakeries to completely upend their production systems and pan designs to accommodate the average number of hot dogs in a pack. The light at the end of the tunnel: In 2022, Heinz and Wonder Bread partnered to solve this very issue in Canada by brokering a partnership to create 10-packs of buns. Maybe a similar deal is on the horizon for the United States. In the meantime, though, we Americans will just have to find a use for those two extra sausages. My suggestion? Cut those suckers up and make a small batch of pigs in blankets for brunch the next day. Everybody wins! Read the original article on ALLRECIPES
Free Malaysia Today
24-05-2025
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Brazil meatpacking giant JBS wins backing for Wall Street listing
JBS has 250 companies in 17 countries worldwide that employ some 280,000 people. (AP pic) BRASILIA : Minority shareholders in Brazil meatpacking giant JBS today backed proposals for a dual stock market listing on Wall Street and in Brazil, despite opposition from US environmental and anti-corruption groups. The 72-year-old company hailed the decision as 'a historic milestone' and said it expected its shares to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on June 12. JBS's two largest shareholders abstained from the vote. The company's bid to transfer its primary listing from Sao Paulo to New York had drawn scrutiny from US activists, who cited concerns about graft allegations as well as rampant deforestation by Brazilian cattle ranchers. JBS said it would remain listed in Sao Paulo through Brazilian depositary receipts – certificates representing shares of a foreign company that allow the shares to be traded in Brazil. It said the double listing would expand its investment capacity, allowing it 'to finance growth at a lower cost'. JBS has 250 companies in 17 countries worldwide that employ some 280,000 people. It and other meat processing giants, like Marfrig and Minerva, have been accused of having a hand in the clearing of huge swathes of Brazilian rainforest for cattle rearing. JBS claims that it does not buy beef produced through illegal deforestation.
Associated Press
22-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
AP Exclusive: US meatpacking workers win back pensions in new union contract with JBS
U.S. meatpacking workers are getting their first new pension plan in nearly 40 years under a contract agreement between JBS, one of the world's largest meat companies, and an American labor union. The United Food and Commercial Workers union said Thursday that 26,000 meatpacking workers at 14 JBS facilities would be eligible for the pension plan. The new contract, which was ratified by workers this week, also adds paid sick leave, wage increases and new plant safety measures. 'This contract, everything that was achieved, really starts to paint the picture of what everybody would like to have: long-term stable jobs that are a benefit for the employees, a benefit for the employers and a benefit for the community they operate in,' Mark Lauritsen, the head of the UFCW's meatpacking and food processing division, told The Associated Press in an interview. Brazil-based JBS said the pension plan reflected its commitment to its workforce and the rural communities in which it operates. 'We are confident that the significant wage increases over the life of the contracts and the opportunity of a secure retirement through our pension plan will create a better future for the men and women who work with us at JBS,' the company said in a statement. Lauritsen said pension plans used to be standard in the meatpacking industry but were cut in the 1980s as companies consolidated. Big meat companies like Tyson Foods and Cargill now offer 401 (k) plans but not pensions. The union started discussing a return to pensions a few years ago as a way to help companies hang on to their workers, according to Lauritsen. 'The good thing about a 401 (k) is that it's portable, but the bad thing about a 401 (k) is that it's portable,' he said. 'This was a way to capture and retain people who were moving from plant to plant, chasing an extra dime or a quarter.' Workers hailed the plan. 'Everything now is very expensive and it's hard to save money for retirement, so this gives us security,' said Thelma Cruz, a union steward with JBS at a pork plant in Marshalltown, Iowa. A return to pensions is unusual but not unheard of in the private sector. IBM reopened its frozen pension plan in 2023. The contract increases average pay for meatpacking workers to $23 to $24 per hour and establishes safety and ergonomic committees at every plant. Paid sick leave — which rival Tyson Foods began offering in 2021 — was also hailed by workers in an industry devastated by the COVID pandemic. The move could also help JBS in its effort to burnish its image ahead of a potential U.S. stock offering. The company has wanted to list its share in both Brazil and New York for years, but has been thwarted by lawmakers, environmental groups and others who are concerned about its history of corruption and environmental damage. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved JBS's application to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange last month, and the company's shareholders are scheduled to vote on the listing Friday. But Lauritsen said the stock listing was never discussed during negotiations with the UFCW, and the union has no position on the listing. 'JBS is on a journey and we're going to keep pushing them right along,' he said. 'We're starting to see an employer that's committed to long-term, stable jobs that help the worker and the community.'
Reuters
19-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
US senator questions Brazilian meatpacker JBS over Trump inaugural fund donations
WASHINGTON, May 19 (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren is pushing Brazilian meatpacker JBS SA ( opens new tab to explain its $5 million donation to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee and whether the money courted the Trump administration's recent approval of its listing on the New York Stock Exchange. JBS, the world's largest meat company, received approval in April from the Securities and Exchange Commission to dual-list its shares in Brazil and New York after years of trying. The company's donation to President Donald Trump's inauguration festivities in January was the largest of any donor. Warren, a Democrat, asked the company in a letter whether it or its subsidiary poultry company Pilgrim's Pride had communicated with Trump or his team about the donations or listing approval. Warren, who sits on the Senate Banking Committee, noted the Department of Justice has two ongoing civil investigations into Pilgrim's Pride, including into how it pays its farmers and for antitrust matters. "Your large donations and direct stake in federal policies and enforcement actions, and the Trump Administration's series of actions that benefit your companies, raise serious concerns about a potential quid-pro-quo arrangement," Warren said in the letter, which was sent to the company on Monday and first reported by Reuters. JBS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company's shareholders will vote on its NYSE listing on May 23. Environmental groups have slammed the listing, citing concerns over deforestation of the Amazon for livestock production and the company's emissions of greenhouse gases. JBS in February agreed to pay $83.5 million to settle antitrust claims that it conspired with other meatpackers to keep meat prices artificially high.
