Smithfield Foods has separated its European operations into a separate business under the WH Group umbrella, a move expected to accelerate growth for each business. What was known as Smithfield Europe will now be called Morliny Foods and will remain a subsidiary of WH Group along with Smithfield Foods.
Morliny Foods follows a region-specific growth strategy due to the nature of the European market for meat and poultry, which is more fragmented with varied dynamics than in North America, where Smithfield Foods operates. Morliny will continue to supply fresh pork and poultry, and packaged meats throughout Europe from its operations in Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Spain and the U.K.
Shane Smith, president and CEO of Smithfield, said the time was right to split the two into standalone businesses to give them the flexibility needed to grow on their own.
“In doing so, we provide our respective management teams with increased decision-making agility, optimizing the performance and prospects for each business,” Smith said in the release.
Luis Cerdan, CEO of Morliny Foods, agreed that his business will benefit “by being a nimbler competitor with a focused strategy addressing the European food market.”
Smithfield Foods expects to continue to drive growth in North America through product innovation in packaged meats, optimization of operations and further investments. Smithfield Foods will retain its majority stake in Altosano (previously known as Granjas Carroll de México), a joint venture in Mexico that supplies fresh pork in that nation.
