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Good morning! It's Thursday, November 23rd. Happy Thanksgiving! To kick off Turkey Day, we are taking a look at Cargill— the company that provides a third of Thanksgiving turkeys and generates $177B annually!

THE FEATURE

The Largest Privately Held Company is Making Billions Off Thanksgiving

As you sit down to eat with family this Thanksgiving, know that the world's largest privately held company, Cargill, will be at the table with you. 

Cargill primarily sells turkey and beef, but their empire has expanded across almost every aspect of the agricultural supply chain– meaning their products are likely to be found in everything from your cornbread to your wax candles. 

With all that said, it’s still shocking to hear that the company generated a whopping $177B in revenue for its 2023 fiscal year!

So, What’s the Business?

Cargill is nearly as old as Thanksgiving itself. It was founded in 1865, just two years before Abraham Lincoln declared a national day of thanksgiving. 

What began as a grain warehouse in Iowa became a turkey production powerhouse a century later. Another decade later, Cargill further diversified into oilseeds, salt mining, and beef processing. 

Its turkey brands, Shady Brook Farms and Honeysuckle White, account for half of the company's turkey sales. The rest of their livestock produce is sold as stores' in-house brands. A third of all the 40M turkeys purchased for Thanksgiving come from Cargill. 

Cargill’s $177B in revenue for the 2023 fiscal year was a 7% increase over last year. This is despite other big-name turkey producers seeing dramatic drops in demand. For example, competitor Jennie-O saw a 30% drop in sales volume for the second half of 2022 due to the largest global bird flu outbreak. 

While the global bird flu handicapped competitors, Cargill kept its head above water thanks to its expansive diversification. Here’s a list of the most notable industries and brand names in Cargill’s product portfolio: 

• Food Ingredients: Truvia (artificial sweetener), Alvean (sugar), Diamond Crystal (salt), and Wilbur Chocolate

• Animal Nutrition: Nutrena (animal feed) and Provimi (animal nutrition solutions)

• Protein: Sterling Silver Premium Meats (beef)

• Financial Services: Black River Asset Management and CarVal Investors

How They Win: Modernizing Turkey Sales with Blockchain

2022 was the year of the cryptocurrency downturn, with everything from Bitcoin to Dogecoin dropping in value and culminating in the arrest of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. However, the blockchain tech popularized by cryptocurrency is still very relevant– even in the agricultural industry!

 In 2017, Cargill began testing a blockchain platform to track its turkeys. Today, 200,000 turkeys from 70 Cargill contract farmers (a third of turkeys sold under the Honeysuckle White brand) are traceable through blockchain technology. 

Cargill’s use of blockchain tech was encouraged by company data that showed 80% of consumers feel it's important to buy a Thanksgiving turkey raised by a “family farmer.” 

Since consumers want to understand where their food comes from and how it is produced, Honeysuckle White turkeys come with trackable codes that allow consumers to view photos of the farm, see how the turkeys were raised, and even read a message from the farmer. 

Realistically, a 10-digit code for pictures of farmers and livestock facilities doesn't fully show animal welfare and husbandry practices. However, it is definitely a masterful PR tactic that makes consumers feel ethical in their turkey consumption.

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