They're going to have to come to these smaller shops. It's like the old gas stations that work on cars. They are fewer and fewer, but you still need them. Cattle ranchers started pushing for brand-name beef in the 1990s in hope of reversing a slump in consumption. They think processors will do a better job of marketing beef and be more conscious of its safety and quality if they've got their name on the label.
Packers currently do little advertising for beef.
They like to be able to pick up a nice, clean package. Tenn. So far, IBP is selling about 5 million pounds of Thomas E. Wilson products a week, out of its total weekly sales of 210 million pounds. It's safe to say we're definitely trending in that direction and it will continue to be more and more a dominant part of what happens. The Tyson-IBP merger has cleared the Justice Department's antitrust review. Tyson has delayed closing the deal, pending IBP's resolution of accounting issues raised by securities regulators.