NYSE: TSN
TYSON FOODS, INC.CIK 0000100493 · SIC 2015
Tyson Foods, Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company,” “we,” “us,” “our,” “Tyson Foods” or “Tyson”) (NYSE: TSN) is a world-class food company and recognized leader in protein. Founded in 1935 by John W. Tyson, it has grown under four generations of family leadership. The Company is… About this business →
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About TYSON FOODS, INC.
Source: Item 1 (Business) from the 10-K filed November 10, 2025. Description as filed by the company with the SEC.
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
GENERAL
Tyson Foods, Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company,” “we,” “us,” “our,” “Tyson Foods” or “Tyson”) (NYSE: TSN) is a world-class food company and recognized leader in protein. Founded in 1935 by John W. Tyson, it has grown under four generations of family leadership. The Company is unified by this purpose: Tyson Foods. We Feed the World Like Family™ and has a broad portfolio of iconic products and brands including Tyson®, Jimmy Dean®, Hillshire Farm®, Ball Park®, Wright®, State Fair®, Aidells® and ibp®. Tyson Foods is dedicated to bringing high-quality food to every table in the world, safely, and affordably, now and for future generations. Headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas, the Company had approximately 133,000 employees (“team members”) on September 27, 2025. Through its Core Values, Tyson Foods strives to operate with integrity, create value for its shareholders, customers, communities and team members, be faith-friendly and inclusive, provide a safe work environment and serve as a steward of the animals, land and environment entrusted to it. Some of the key factors influencing our business are customer demand for our products; the ability to maintain and grow relationships with customers and introduce new and innovative products to the marketplace; accessibility of international markets; market prices for our products; the cost and availability of live cattle and hogs, raw materials and feed ingredients; availability of team members to operate our production facilities; and operating efficiencies of our facilities.
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We operate a fully vertically-integrated chicken production process. Our integrated operations consist of breeding stock, contract farmers, feed production, processing, further-processing, marketing and transportation of chicken and related specialty products, including animal and pet food ingredients. Through our wholly-owned subsidiary, Cobb-Vantress, we are one of the leading poultry breeding stock suppliers in the world. Investing in breeding stock research and development allows us to breed into our flocks the characteristics found to be most desirable.
We also process live fed cattle and hogs and fabricate dressed beef and pork carcasses into primal and sub-primal meat cuts, case-ready beef and pork and fully-cooked meats. In addition, we derive value from specialty products such as hides and variety meats sold to further processors and others.
We produce a wide range of fresh, value-added, frozen and refrigerated food products. Our products are marketed and sold primarily by our sales staff to grocery retailers, grocery wholesalers, meat distributors, warehouse club stores, military commissaries, industrial food processing companies, chain restaurants or their distributors, live markets, international export companies and domestic distributors who serve restaurants, foodservice operations such as plant and school cafeterias, convenience stores, hospitals and other vendors. Additionally, sales to the military and a portion of sales to international markets are made through independent brokers and trading companies.
As part of our commitment to innovation and growth, we have a subsidiary focused on investing in companies developing breakthrough technologies, business models and products that have the potential to transform the food industry. Tyson New Ventures, LLC is used to broaden our exposure to innovative, new forms of protein and ways of improving animal welfare, water management, and packaging and land stewardship initiatives to complement the Company’s continuing investments in innovation in our core Beef, Pork, Chicken and Prepared Foods businesses.
FINANCIAL INFORMATION OF SEGMENTS
We operate in four reportable segments: Beef, Pork, Chicken and Prepared Foods. We measure segment profit as operating income (loss). International/Other primarily includes our foreign operations in China, Malaysia, Mexico, South Korea, Thailand and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, third-party merger and integration costs and corporate overhead related to Tyson New Ventures, LLC. The contribution of each segment to net sales and operating income (loss), and the identifiable assets attributable to each segment, are set forth in Part II, Item 8, Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 17: Segment Reporting.
DESCRIPTION OF SEGMENTS
Beef
Beef includes our operations related to processing live fed cattle and fabricating dressed beef carcasses into primal and sub-primal meat cuts and case-ready products. Products are marketed domestically to food retailers, foodservice distributors, restaurant operators, hotel chains and noncommercial foodservice establishments such as schools, healthcare facilities, the military and other food processors, as well as to international export markets. This segment also includes sales from specialty products such as hides, rendered products and variety meats, as well as logistics operations to move products through the supply chain.
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Pork
Pork includes our operations related to processing live market hogs and fabricating pork carcasses into primal and sub-primal cuts and case-ready products. Products are marketed domestically to food retailers, foodservice distributors, restaurant operators, hotel chains and noncommercial foodservice establishments such as schools, healthcare facilities, the military and other food processors, as well as to international export markets. This segment also includes our live swine group, related specialty product processing activities and logistics operations to move products through the supply chain.
Chicken
Chicken includes our domestic operations related to raising and processing live chickens into and purchasing raw materials for fresh, frozen and value-added chicken products, as well as sales from specialty products. Our value-added chicken products primarily include breaded chicken strips, nuggets, patties and other ready-to-fix or fully cooked chicken parts. Products are marketed domestically to food retailers, foodservice distributors, restaurant operators, convenience stores, hotel chains and noncommercial foodservice establishments such as schools, healthcare facilities, the military and other food processors, as well as to international export markets. This segment also includes logistics operations to move products through our domestic supply chain and the global operations of our chicken breeding stock subsidiary.
Prepared Foods
Prepared Foods includes our operations related to manufacturing and marketing frozen and refrigerated food products and logistics operations to move products through the supply chain. This segment includes brands such as Jimmy Dean®, Hillshire Farm®, Ball Park®, Wright®, State Fair®, as well as artisanal brands Aidells® and Gallo Salame®. Products primarily include a mixture of ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat sandwiches, sandwich components such as flame-grilled hamburgers and Philly steaks, pepperoni, bacon, breakfast sausage, turkey, lunchmeat, hot dogs, flour and corn tortilla products, appetizers, snacks, prepared meals, ethnic foods, side dishes, meat dishes, breadsticks and processed meats. Products are marketed domestically to food retailers, foodservice distributors, restaurant operators, convenience stores, hotel chains and noncommercial foodservice establishments such as schools, healthcare facilities, the military and other food processors, as well as to international export markets.
RAW MATERIALS AND SOURCES OF SUPPLY
Beef
The primary raw materials used in our beef operations are live cattle. We do not have facilities of our own to raise cattle but employ cattle buyers located throughout cattle producing areas who visit independent feed yards and public auctions to buy live cattle on the open spot market. These buyers are trained to select high quality animals, and we continually measure their performance. We also enter into various risk-sharing and procurement arrangements with producers to secure a supply of livestock for our facilities. Although we generally expect adequate supply of live cattle in the regions we operate, there may be periods of imbalance in supply and demand. The U.S. cattle market is currently experiencing limited supply of market-ready cattle and uncertainty exists regarding the timing of anticipated cattle herd rebuild.
Pork
The primary raw materials used in our pork operations are live hogs. The majority of our live hog supply is obtained through various procurement relationships with independent producers. We employ hog buyers who make purchase agreements of various time durations as well as purchase hogs on a daily basis, generally a few days before the animals are processed. These buyers are trained to select high quality animals, and we continually measure their performance. Additionally, we raise a small number of weanling swine to sell to independent finishers and to supply a minimal amount of market hogs and live swine for our own processing needs. Although we generally expect adequate supply of live hogs in the regions we operate, there may be periods of imbalance in supply and demand.
Chicken
The primary raw materials used in our domestic chicken operations are corn and soybean meal, used as feed, and live chickens raised primarily by independent contract farmers. Our vertically-integrated chicken process begins with breeding our pedigree and great grandparent stock out to produce the grandparent breeder flocks and ends with broilers for processing. Breeder flocks (i.e., grandparents) are raised to maturity in grandparent growing and laying farms where fertile eggs are produced. Fertile eggs are incubated at the grandparent hatchery and produce pullets (i.e., parents). Pullets are raised to 20 weeks of age, sent to breeder houses, and the resulting eggs are sent to our hatcheries. Once chicks have hatched, they are sent to broiler farms. There, contract farmers care for and raise the chicks according to our standards, with advice from our technical service personnel, until the broilers reach the desired processing weight. Adult chickens are transported to processing facilities where they are harvested and converted into finished products, which are then sent to distribution centers and delivered to customers.
We operate feed mills to produce scientifically-formulated feeds. In fiscal 2025, corn, soybean meal and other feed ingredients were major production costs, representing roughly 53% of our cost of growing a live chicken domestically. In addition to feed ingredients to grow the chickens, we use cooking ingredients, packaging materials and cryogenic agents. We believe our sources of supply for these materials are adequate for our present needs, and we do not anticipate any difficulty in acquiring these materials in the future.
While we produce nearly all our inventory of breeder chickens and live broilers, we also purchase ice-packed or deboned chicken to meet production and sales requirements.
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Prepared Foods
The primary raw materials used in our prepared foods operations are commodity-based raw materials, including beef, pork, chicken, turkey, flour, vegetables, cheese, eggs, seasonings and other cooking ingredients. Some of these raw materials are provided by our other segments, while others may be purchased from numerous suppliers and manufacturers. We believe the sources of supply of raw materials are adequate for our present needs.
SEASONAL DEMAND
Demand for beef, chicken, pork and certain prepared foods products, such as hot dogs and smoked sausage, generally increases during the spring and summer months and other key holiday periods and is generally softer during the winter months. Other prepared foods products, such as prepared meals, meat dishes, appetizers, bacon, and breakfast sausage, generally experience increased demand during the winter months, and also key holiday seasons, while demand generally is softer during the spring and summer months.
CUSTOMERS
Walmart Inc. accounted for approximately 18.7% of our fiscal 2025 consolidated sales. Sales to Walmart Inc. were included in all of our segments. Any extended discontinuance of sales to this customer could, if not replaced, have a material impact on our operations. No other single customer or customer group represented more than 10% of fiscal 2025 consolidated sales.
COMPETITION
Our food products compete with those of other food producers and processors and certain prepared food manufacturers. Additionally, our food products compete in markets around the world. We seek to achieve a leading market position for our products via our principal marketing and competitive strategy, which includes:
•identifying target markets for value-added products;
•concentrating production, sales and marketing efforts to appeal to and enhance demand from those markets; and
•utilizing our national distribution systems and customer support services.
Past efforts indicate customer demand can be increased and sustained through application of our marketing strategy, consumer insights, strong analytics to optimize efforts and supported by our distribution systems. The principal competitive elements are advertising, consumer and trade promotions, price, product safety and quality, brand identification, innovation, breadth and depth of product offerings, availability of products, customer service and credit terms.
FOREIGN OPERATIONS
We sold products in approximately 140 countries and regions in fiscal 2025. Major sales markets include Canada, Central America, China, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, Mexico, Malaysia, the Middle East, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. We have the following foreign operations:
•Cobb-Vantress, a chicken breeding stock subsidiary, has business interests in Argentina, Brazil, China, the Dominican Republic, India, New Zealand, Peru, the Philippines, Spain, Tanzania, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
•Tyson Asia-Pacific consists of vertically-integrated chicken production operations in Thailand, multi-protein further-processing operations in Malaysia, a producer and distributor of value-added and cooked chicken and beef products in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and joint venture interests in non-consolidated poultry businesses in Malaysia and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
•Tyson China and Tyson South Korea consist of a vertically-integrated chicken production operation, multi-protein further-processing operations, and a joint venture interest in a non-consolidated chicken processing business in China. Tyson China and Tyson South Korea also sell beef, pork, and chicken products imported from Tyson production facilities in the United States and other global operations.
•Tyson Europe sells chicken products throughout the United Kingdom and Europe produced from our other global operations and co-packer arrangements.
•Vibra Agroindustrial S.A., a joint venture in Brazil in which we have a minority interest, is a vertically-integrated chicken processing business.
•Holding Agro Industrial S.A., a joint venture in Argentina and Uruguay in which we have a minority interest, is a vertically-integrated chicken processing business.
•Tyson Mexico Trading Company, a Mexican subsidiary, sells chicken and prepared foods products primarily from our U.S. operations and co-packer arrangements.
We continue to evaluate growth opportunities in foreign locations. Additional information regarding export sales and long-lived assets located in foreign locations is set forth in Part II, Item 8, Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 17: Segment Reporting.
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RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
We conduct continuous research and development activities which include new product innovation, product improvements, ingredient simplification, manual process automation in our processing facilities and grow-out operations, and chicken breeding stock improvements. Our Discovery Center in Springdale, Arkansas, includes more than 40,000 square feet of United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) and United States Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) pilot plant space, consumer sensory and focus group areas, a packaging lab and 19 research kitchens. The center enables us to bring new market-leading retail and foodservice products to the customer quickly and efficiently. Additionally, we have a Manufacturing Automation Center in Springdale, Arkansas, designed to develop new manufacturing solutions and to enhance team member training on new technology. Further, we have research and development capabilities located in several international locations where we operate.
ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION AND FOOD SAFETY
Environmental Regulation
Our facilities for processing beef, pork, chicken, turkey and prepared foods, milling feed and housing live chickens and swine are subject to many international, federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations, including provisions relating to all environmental media - air, land and water, and generally provide for environmental protection.
We believe we are in substantial compliance with such applicable laws and regulations and are not aware of any violations of such laws and regulations likely to result in material penalties or material increases in compliance costs. The cost of compliance with such laws and regulations has not had a material adverse effect on our capital expenditures, earnings or competitive position, and except as described below, is not anticipated to have a material adverse effect in the future.
Various federal, state and international regulatory agencies and governments continue to consider, adopt or revise programs that regulate, report, and control greenhouse gas emissions. Although we have not incurred significant costs or capital expenditures specific to greenhouse gas emission compliance, these requirements are continually evolving. As the exact impact of new or additional greenhouse gas emission controls and requirements remains in flux, it cannot be determined whether such impacts would have a material adverse effect.
We closely monitor developments in this area and strive to mitigate risks related to greenhouse gas emissions through environmental compliance and climate-related initiatives. For example, we collect and monitor greenhouse gas emissions data, which can be used to inform greenhouse gas emission reduction and removal interventions in our operations and supply chain. We continue to evaluate climate-related goals and initiatives, including corresponding costs, evolving legal landscapes, stakeholder expectations, and customer and consumer understanding of climate action.
We remain committed to serving as stewards of the people, land, animals and resources entrusted to our care, consistent with our core values. We take a comprehensive and holistic approach to managing natural resources and continuously work to increase operational efficiencies, reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the supply chain, and partner with stakeholders to create a more resilient food system. Additionally, we continue to support agricultural practices and business operations that further these efforts and work to strengthen the overall resiliency of the U.S. agricultural system. Our climate strategy is evolving and efforts are underway to refresh and embed our strategy into our business and operations.
Food Safety
We work to ensure our products meet high standards of food safety and quality. In addition to our own internal Food Safety and Quality Assurance oversight and review, our beef, pork, chicken, and prepared foods products are subject to inspection, primarily by the USDA and the FDA. We also participate in the USDA’s Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (“HACCP”) program or FDA’s Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Prevention Controls (“HARPC”) program as applicable and are subject to the Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures and the Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002. Additionally, our foreign operations are subject to various other food safety and quality assurance oversight and review.
HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT
Employees and Labor Relations
As of September 27, 2025, we employed approximately 133,000 team members globally. Approximately 116,000 team members were employed in the United States, of whom approximately 110,000 were employed at non-corporate sites such as production facilities, warehouses, truck shops, hatcheries and feed mills. Approximately 17,000 team members were employed in other countries, primarily in Thailand and China. For fiscal 2025, our domestic workforce experienced a 3.5% increased retention rate from fiscal 2024. Approximately 31,000 team members in the United States were subject to collective bargaining agreements with various labor unions, with approximately 47% of those team members at locations either under negotiation for contract renewal or included under agreements expiring in fiscal 2026. The remaining agreements expire over the next several years. Approximately 6,000 team members in other countries were subject to collective bargaining agreements. We believe our overall relations with our workforce in both unionized and non-union settings are healthy.
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Health, Safety and Wellbeing
We maintain a safety culture grounded on the premise of eliminating workplace incidents, risks and hazards. In an effort to ensure our team members are highly engaged and prepared for success at Tyson Foods, we emphasize comprehensive training programs. Newly hired team members participate in orientation programs and on-the-job training. Additionally, all team members receive comprehensive annual compliance training, covering essential topics such as team member safety, food safety, and other vital areas. We review and monitor our safety performance closely. As an expansion of our wellbeing culture and efforts to boost the overall health and wellness of our workforce, we continue to operate health clinics near our production facilities, giving team members and their families easier access to high-quality healthcare.
Team Member Engagement
We firmly believe innovation thrives when teams come together, bringing a multitude of perspectives to propel progress and growth. We believe the varied experiences of our team make us strong, and we strive to create a workforce in which every team member contributes to our collective success. Our commitment to our team is rooted in our desire to create working environments that enable team members to succeed while supporting the growth of our communities. We maintain policies, practices and strong governance that are designed to enable team member success across our organization. Our policies and practices underscore our commitment to providing a work environment free from all forms of discrimination and harassment. All new team members receive policy training during onboarding, as well as annually. We also maintain an Equal Opportunity Employer statement that details our commitment to equal opportunity in all aspects of employment.
Talent and Development
Our talent strategy and philosophy is focused on attracting the best talent, recognizing and rewarding performance, while continually developing, engaging and retaining our team members. We focus on the team member experience, removing barriers to engagement, further modernizing the human resources process, focusing on frontline team member retention and striving to continuously improve all of our talent practices. Through our Upward Academy Onsite Program, we offer English as a second language, high-school equivalency, citizenship, financial literacy and digital literacy training to all team members. As of September 27, 2025, the onsite program was operating at 40 Company locations. All team members can also access Upward Academy online, a frontline career development program. This program helps team members further hone professional skills and creates opportunities for our team members to advance to higher-paying, more senior-level positions within the Company through college degrees, job skills training and workforce certifications at no cost up to $5,250 per year. We strive to grow and develop the different capabilities and skills that we need for the future, while maintaining a robust pipeline of talent throughout the organization.
MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION
Our principal marketing objective is to be the preferred provider of beef, pork, chicken and prepared foods products for our customers and consumers. We build the Tyson®, Jimmy Dean®, Hillshire Farm®, Ball Park®, Wright®, State Fair®, Aidells® and ibp® brands while supporting strong regional and emerging brands primarily through distinctive brand and product advertising, promotion and public relations efforts focused toward key consumer targets with specific needs. We identify growth and business opportunities through consumer and customer insights derived via leading research and analytic capabilities, while continually enhancing our digital marketing acumen to leverage technology and data in delivering more personalized, relevant brand experiences. We utilize our national distribution system and customer support services to achieve the leading market position for our products and brands.
We have the ability to produce and ship fresh, frozen and refrigerated products worldwide. Domestically, our distribution system extends to a broad network of food distributors and is supported by our owned or leased cold storage warehouses, public cold storage facilities and our transportation system. Our distribution centers accumulate fresh and frozen products so we can fill and consolidate partial-truckload orders into full truckloads, thereby decreasing shipping costs while increasing customer service. In addition, we provide our customers a wide selection of products that do not require large volume orders. Our distribution system enables us to supply large or small quantities of products to meet customer requirements anywhere in the continental United States. Internationally, we utilize both rail and truck refrigerated transportation to domestic ports, where consolidations take place to transport to foreign destinations.
PATENTS AND TRADEMARKS
We have filed a number of patent applications relating to our processes and products that either have been granted or are in the process of review. Because we do a significant amount of brand name and product line advertising to promote our products, we consider the protection of our trademarks to be important to our marketing efforts, and we regularly register and apply for the registration of a number of trademarks. We also have developed non-public proprietary information regarding our production processes and other product-related matters. We utilize internal procedures and safeguards to protect the confidentiality of such information and, where appropriate, seek patent and/or other protection for the technology we utilize.
INDUSTRY PRACTICES
Our agreements with customers are generally short-term, primarily due to the nature of our products, industry practices and fluctuations in supply, demand and price for such products. In certain instances where we are selling further processed products to large customers, we may enter into written agreements whereby we will act as the exclusive or preferred supplier to the customer, with pricing terms that are either fixed or variable.
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AVAILABILITY OF SEC FILINGS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE DOCUMENTS ON INTERNET WEBSITE
We maintain an internet website for investors at https://ir.tyson.com. On this website, we make available, free of charge, annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, iXBRL (inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language) reports, and all amendments to any of those reports, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such reports with, or furnish such reports to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Also available on the website to review and print for investors are the Corporate Governance Principles, Audit Committee charter, Compensation and Leadership Development Committee charter, Governance and Nominating Committee charter, Strategy and Acquisitions Committee charter, Code of Conduct, Reporting of Potential Financial Misconduct Policy and other corporate governance policies. The SEC maintains an internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC at www.sec.gov.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS RELEVANT TO FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSE OF “SAFE HARBOR” PROVISIONS OF THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995
Certain information in this report constitutes forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, current views and estimates of our outlook for fiscal 2026, other future economic circumstances, industry conditions in domestic and international markets, our performance and financial results (e.g., debt levels, return on invested capital, value-added product growth, capital expenditures, tax rates, access to foreign markets and dividend policy). These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could cause our actual results and experiences to differ materially from anticipated results and expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements. We wish to caution readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Among the factors that may cause actual results and experiences to differ from anticipated results and expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are the following: (i) the effectiveness of financial excellence programs or operational optimization plans; (ii) access to, and inputs from, foreign markets together with foreign economic conditions, including currency fluctuations, import/export restrictions and foreign politics; (iii) global pandemics have had, and may in the future have, an adverse impact on our business and operations; (iv) cyber attacks, other cyber incidents, security breaches or other disruptions of our information technology systems; (v) risks associated with our failure to consummate favorable acquisition transactions or integrate certain acquisitions’ operations; (vi) the Tyson Limited Partnership’s ability to exercise significant control over the Company; (vii) fluctuations in the cost and availability of inputs and raw materials, such as live cattle, live swine, feed grains (including corn and soybean meal) and energy; (viii) market conditions for finished products, including competition from other global and domestic food processors, supply and pricing of competing products and alternative proteins and demand for alternative proteins; (ix) outbreak of a livestock disease (such as African swine fever (ASF), avian influenza (AI), New World screwworm or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)), which could have an adverse effect on livestock we own, the availability of livestock we purchase, consumer perception of certain protein products or our ability to conduct our operations; (x) changes in consumer preference and diets and our ability to identify and react to consumer trends; (xi) effectiveness of advertising and marketing programs; (xii) significant marketing plan changes by large customers or loss of one or more large customers; (xiii) our ability to leverage brand value propositions; (xiv) changes in availability and relative costs of labor and contract farmers and our ability to maintain good relationships with team members, labor unions, contract farmers and independent producers providing us livestock; (xv) issues related to food safety, including costs resulting from product recalls, regulatory compliance and any related claims or litigation; (xvi) compliance with and changes to regulations and laws (both domestic and foreign), including changes in accounting standards, tax laws, environmental laws, agricultural laws and occupational, health and safety laws; (xvii) the effect of climate change and any legal or regulatory response thereto; (xviii) adverse results from litigation; (xix) risks associated with leverage, including cost increases due to rising interest rates or changes in debt ratings or outlook; (xx) impairment in the carrying value of our goodwill or indefinite life intangible assets; (xxi) our participation in a multiemployer pension plan; (xxii) volatility in capital markets or interest rates; (xxiii) risks associated with our commodity purchasing activities; (xxiv) the effect of, or changes in, general economic conditions; (xxv) impacts on our operations caused by factors and forces beyond our control, such as natural disasters, fire, bioterrorism, pandemics, armed conflicts or extreme weather; (xxvi) failure to maximize or assert our intellectual property rights; (xxvii) effects related to changes in tax rates, valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities, or tax laws and their interpretation; and (xxviii) those factors listed under