Meat packing is one of the largest agriculture-based industries in the United States. However, in recent years changing consumer eating habits have impacted the beef and pork industries, which are by far the largest sectors in this industry category.
Establishments in this category are primarily engaged in manufacturing sausages, cured meats, smoked meats, canned meats, frozen meats and other prepared meats and meat specialties, from purchased carcasses and other materials. Products include bologna, bacon, corned beef, frankfurters (except poultry), headcheese, luncheon meat, pigs' feet, sandwich spreads, stew, pastrami, and hams (except poultry).
This industry includes establishments primarily engaged in slaughtering, dressing, packing, freezing, and canning poultry, rabbits, and other small game, or in manufacturing products from such meats, for their own account or on a contract basis for the trade. This industry also includes the drying, freezing, and breaking of eggs.
This industry consists of establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing creamery butter.
This industry encompasses establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing natural cheese (except cottage cheese), cheese foods, cheese spreads, and cheese analogues (imitations and substitutes). These establishments also produce byproducts, such as raw liquid whey.
This classification covers establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing dry, condensed, and evaporated dairy products. Included in this industry are establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing mixes for the preparation of frozen ice cream and ice milk and dairy and nondairy base cream substitutes and dietary supplements.
This industry classification encompasses establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing ice cream and other frozen desserts: frozen yogurt, ice milk, ices and sherbets, frozen custard, mellorine, frozen tofu, and pops (frozen desserts on sticks).
This industry encompasses establishments primarily engaged in processing fluid milk, cream, and related products that included cottage cheese, yogurt (except frozen), and other cultured milk products.
This category covers establishments primarily engaged in canning specialty products, such as baby foods, nationality specialty foods, and soups, except seafood.
The canned foods industry generated more than $14.5 billion in sales in the late 1990s. The total value of shipments grew from $15.8 billion in 1997 to $17.7 billion in 2000.
Dried and dehydrated fruits, vegetables, and soups generate an annual shipment value of more than $3 billion, according to the most recent figures published by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Diversified multibillion dollar companies such as H.J. Heinz Company, Kraft General Foods, Inc., and Unilever Best Foods North America were the major producers of pickles, sauces and seasonings, and salad dressings in the 2000s.
This classification covers establishments primarily engaged in freezing fruits, fruit juices, and vegetables. These establishments also produce important byproducts such as fresh or dried citrus pulp.
Due to increased competition from other sectors of the food industry, such as refrigerated entrees and ready-to-eat meals prepared by grocery store delis, frozen food sales began to weaken in the early 2000s. Frozen food sales grew 5.3 percent in 2001, 4.4 percent in 2002, and just 1.4 percent in 2003.
In the flour milling industry, explosive growth during the mid-1990s had been tempered by growing environmental and health concerns, as well as a weakening economy, by the turn of the century. Shipments of flour and other grain mill products fell from a record high of $8.045 billion in 1997 to $6.650 billion in 2000, according to the U.S.
In the early 2000s breakfast cereal makers were facing stagnant, if not declining, sales. Gone are the days of the family breakfast, of which a bowl of cereal was standard fare.
One of the smaller segments of U.S. grain milling, rice milling was worth roughly $1.7 billion in 2001, according to the U.S.
In 2000 establishments classified in this industry shipped products totaling $4.6 billion. This represented a decline from 1999 shipments of $5.2 billion.
Also known as corn refining, the wet corn milling industry processes roughly 20 percent of the U.S. corn crop.
Retail sales of pet food totaled $11.2 billion in 1999. The industry's growth rate in the 1980s was relatively flat, with an average growth of 1 or 2 percent annually.
Feed is by far the largest input cost of producing food and fiber of animal origin, exceeding even the initial cost of the animals themselves. The cost of feed represents 50 to 70 percent of the cost of producing meat, milk, and eggs at the farm level.
The value of goods shipped by the commercial bakery industry in 2001 totaled $25.7 billion, up from up from $25 billion in 2000 and $23.9 billion in 1999. Private label brands dominate the traditional sliced white bread category, holding a 27-percent market share.
This category includes establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing fresh cookies, crackers, pretzels, and similar "dry" bakery products. Secondary products that are part of this industry include biscuits, graham crackers, saltines, cracker meal and crumbs, cracker sandwiches made from crackers, wafers, and ice cream cones and cups.
Frozen food sales in 2003 grew 1.4 percent to $27.1 billion. Compared to 5.3 percent growth in 2001 and 4.4 percent growth in 2002, growth in the frozen food industry was considered flat due at least in part to increased competition from refrigerated and ready-to-eat products sold in the deli section of most supermarkets.
The sugar cane industry is confined by the crop's growing conditions and the logistics of transporting sugar cane. Mills that process the sugar cane into raw sugar must be located near cane plantations since cut sugar cane is too bulky and heavy to ship.
This entry includes establishments primarily engaged in refining purchased raw cane sugar and sugar syrup. Sugar cane is cut and milled into raw cane sugar, then shipped in that form to refiners to be processed into syrup, granulated sugar, powdered sugar, or brown sugar.
This entry includes establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing sugar from sugar beets.
Americans—and for that matter just about everybody else—have an insatiable appetite for candy. the U.S.
The chocolate and cocoa products industry has traditionally been subject to significant fluctuations in demand. Chocolate products tend to be seasonal in nature, with demand increasing sharply during the holidays.
This industry consists of establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing chewing gum or chewing gum base.
The first successful cottonseed oil mill began production in Natchez, Mississippi, in 1833. Up to that point, cottonseed left over from planting had been regarded as a health hazard and a source of pollution.
Traditionally one of the largest U.S. crops, soybeans are especially valuable because the same automated presses yield two important products with closely linked markets—soybean oil and, representing more than 80 percent of the total, soybean meal.
Falling vegetable oil prices at the turn of the twenty-first century lessened oil's contribution to the value of seeds. This curtailed production of high-oil-content seeds such as rapeseed and sunflower seed in 2001-02.
The majority of the industry in the early 2000s was engaged in the manufacture of feed and fertilizer byproducts. Grease and inedible tallow accounted for 60 percent of industry production in 2002, and other animal and marine oil mill products made up the remaining share.
Many of the goods classified in this industry are long-time staples of the American kitchen. Commonly utilized for cooking and baking purposes, products such as shortening, vegetable oil, and margarine have become established presences in the marketplace.
This category includes establishments primarily engaged in the manufacturing of malt beverages, including ale, beer, malt liquor, nonalcoholic beer, porter, and stout.
This classification covers establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing malt or malt by-products from barley or other grains.
Although the first commercial wine venture in the United States was in Pennsylvania in 1793, the majority of modern American wineries have been located in California, with Washington and New York coming in a distant second and third, respectively. California has accounted for more than 90 percent of all U.S.
In 2002, American consumption of distilled spirits totaled 153.0 million cases, an increase of 1.8 percent from 2001, the fifth consecutive year of gains for the distilled spirit industry. Despite a weak economic climate, adult beverages were driven by desirable high-end premium products and consumers growing thirst for fruit-infused vodkas, rums, and other flavored alcoholic beverages.
Soft drinks have become intrinsically tied to the "American way of life," and the leading soft drink, Coca-Cola, is a virtual icon of American culture. Close to 500 soft drinks manufacturers and bottling companies operate in the United States.
While most foods have some flavor, certain agents can enhance the taste of these foods. These products encompass a wide range of materials that can be used alone or mixed into a blend.
The value of U.S. canned fish and seafood industry shipments in 1999 totaled $1.016 billion, compared to $830 million in 1998.
This category covers establishments that prepare seafoods, including shrimpcakes, crabcakes, fishcakes, chowders, and stews in raw or cooked frozen form. Prepared fresh fish are eviscerated or processed by removal of heads, fins, and scales.
Beginning in the early 1990s, small and large coffee roasters enjoyed strong markets. Coffee consumption also was brisk, with coffee shops maintaining their presence throughout the country.
The "salty snack" industry includes potato chips, corn chips, tortilla chips, ready-to-eat popcorn (except candy-coated), pork rinds, potato sticks, and extruded snacks such as cheese puffs. Overall, retail dollar sales for snacks during 2001 totaled $21.8 billion, an increase of 5.1 percent from 2000.
Technological advances freed consumers from their long dependence on the harvest of local, naturally occurring sources of ice by permitting first its export and then its manufacture. This production, whether by private companies or by public utilities, was based on developments that also heralded the era of domestic refrigeration, and the ice trays found in most American kitchens became the major rival of commercial ice manufacturers.
In the two decades from 1975 to 1995, Americans increased their pasta consumption by 90 percent. Pasta was manufactured almost exclusively in the United States from durum semolina wheat.
This classification includes establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing food preparations not classified under another category. It includes manufacturers of items such as syrups, leavening agents, dry mixes (for sauces and gravies), packaged mixes (made from pasta, rice, and potatoes), seasonings and spices, and ready-toeat meals and salads.