Commercial poultry is grown on six of the world’s seven continents, and some of the world’s largest poultry companies having a presence on multiple continents.
Of the world’s five largest broiler producers, two are headquartered in South America, two are headquartered in Asia, and one is headquartered in North America.
Every year, WATT Global Media conducts its Top Poultry Companies survey, and these are the largest poultry producers for each continent/region.
Africa – Astral Foods
Astral Foods, headquartered in South Africa, is Africa’s largest broiler producer. During the past year, it slaughtered 260 million broilers.
Globally, it ranks as the 38th largest poultry producer. RCL Foods, also based in South Africa is the only other African company to rank among the world’s top 50, coming in at No. 49.
Asia – Wen’s Food Group
Wen's Food Group is a leading producer of poultry and pigs in China, having consolidated 326 companies to encompass 49,800 family farms across China.
It ranks as the world’s fourth-largest broiler producer, having slaughtered 925 million broilers during the past year.
CP Foods, headquartered in Thailand, ranks second among Asian broiler producers.
Australia/Oceania – Ingham’s
Ingham’s, with operations in both Australia and New Zealand, is the largest poultry producer of Oceania.
During the past year, it slaughtered 214 million broilers, to outrank Baiada Poultry, which slaughtered 208 broilers during the past year.
Ingham’s and Baiada rank 44th and 46th as the world’s largest poultry producers, respecitively.
Europe – LDC Group
Headquartered in France, LDC Group is Europe’s largest broiler producer. With 86 production sites in Europe, the company slaughtered 578.5 million broilers during the past year.
LDC ranks as the world’s 12th largest poultry producer.
Ukraine’s MHP is Europe’s second largest poultry producer.
North America – Tyson Foods
Tyson Foods is the world’s third-largest broiler producer and the largest in both the United States and North America. During the past year, it slaughtered 1.9 billion broilers.
Tyson Foods, largely through acquisitions, has increased its global presence in recent years. It also has operations in Asia, Europe and Australia.
South America – JBS
JBS easily ranks as the world’s largest poultry producer, having slaughtered 4.425 billion broilers during the past year, more than doubling the amount produced by BRF, the second largest producer of both South America and the world.
JBS’ production is divided into several companies. Seara represents its South American operations, Pilgrim’s represents its North American operations, and Moy Park represents its European operations. The Seara subsidiary slaughtered 2.008 billion broilers during the past year, which is just below the amount slaughtered by BRF. However, BRF also has operations in the Middle East.
Both JBS and BRF are headquartered in Brazil.
