Smithfield takes a keen look at China

Smithfield Foods Inc. recently announced it was selling its beef operations to JBS S.A. Consequently, CEO Larry Pope said the company would concentrate on — and potentially expand — its pork business.

Pope told investors in February that he was optimistic after a January trip to China and that he planned to send more Smithfield delegations there in the coming months.

He reportedly said that at the National Pork Forum in St. Louis more recently that a “high level senior delegation” would leave in the next 30 days, stay three to five months and work with a number of U.S. and Chinese consulting firms to embark on a detailed analysis of Chinese business opportunities.

“We haven’t made any decisions yet, but the fact of the matter is it’s a growing protein environment. They like our product and we would be fools not to look at it,” Pope said.