IBP, Inc.
Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc., formerly IBP, Inc. and Iowa Beef Processors, Inc., is an American meat packing company based in Dakota Dunes, South Dakota, United States. IBP was the United States' biggest beef packer and its number two pork processor. To reflect the company's multiple operations, the company changed its name to Iowa Beef Processors, Inc. in 1970. After the company expanded operations to pork and other areas, Iowa Beef Processors, Inc., became IBP, Inc. Occidental Petroleum owned IBP from 1981 to 1987, and was the majority owner from 1987 to 1991. The original IBP features prominently  in Eric Schlosser's "Fast Food Nation" as the company that closed down the Chicago meatpacking district as a result of its industrial practices. Founded as "Iowa Beef Packers, Inc." on March 17, 1960 by Currier J. Holman and A.D. Anderson, it opened its first slaughterhouse in Denison, Iowa, and eliminated the need for skilled workers. In 1967, IBP introduced boxed beef and pork, which were vacuum packed and in smaller portions. It was a new option then, when the traditional method of shipping product was in whole carcass form. The boxed meat also saved energy and transportation costs by  eliminating the shipment of fat, bones and trimmings. When workers in the IBP plant in Dakota City went on strike in 1969, Holman and three top executives held secret meetings with Moe Steinman, a 'labour consultant' with close ties to La Cosa Nostra, in New York, who helped to end the New York butchers' boycott (in support of the meatpackers' strike). After a lengthy investigation of mob involvement in the New York City meat business, Currier J. Holman and IBP were tried and convicted in 1974 for bribing union leaders and meat wholesalers. IBP was acquired by Tyson Foods in  2001 for US$3.2 billion in cash and stock. Tyson continues to use the IBP name as a brand for its commodity beef and pork products.