Domestic grass-fed and organic beef supplier American Farmers Network (AFN) has acquired Gordon, Neb.-based Open Range Beef (ORB), a beef processor specializing in grass-fed, organic, and natural programs that serve premium retailers, foodservice distributors, and export markets. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The deal expands AFN’s vertically integrated footprint, a release from the company noted, and the combined company will employ more than 500 workers across two U.S. processing facilities. The company expects to gain throughput, shift flexibility and geographic diversification to reduce bottlenecks and import exposure while optimizing fill rates and lead times. Customers will gain confidence in the company’s ability to provide year-round, stateside processing at meaningful scale, said Sanin Mirvic, founder and chairman of AFN.
AFN will retain the entire ORB workforce and maintain operating cadence during a phased integratrion, Mirvic also noted. The company is expected to continue to invest in traceability, animal welfare and workplace safety, as well as audit readiness, labeling transparency and cold-chain performance. Future exploration of technology upgrades was expected as well, aiming to improve yields, program verification .and optimized client support
About the Author
Andy Hanacek
Senior Editor
Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.