Established in 1953 as a slaughtering business by cattle rancher José Batista Sobrinho in Anapolis, in the central Brazil state of Goiás, JBS currently has more than 300 production facilities and 185,000 employees worldwide. The company processes beef, pork, poultry and lamb and produces other products.

Headquartered in São Paulo, JBS became the world’s largest company in the beef sector in 2007 with the purchase of Swift & Company in the United States and Australia. The company entered the chicken business with the purchase of Pilgrim’s Pride (USA) in 2009, and became the largest poultry processor in 2013 with the acquisition of Seara (Brazil).

The company’s IPC representative is Wilson Mello Neto, director of government relations and communications.

IPC President Jim Sumner said: “With the addition of JBS, the IPC now has a total of 33 associate members that include processors, animal health suppliers, primary breeders, equipment manufacturers, packaging companies, and others allied with the international poultry industry.

“We welcome JBS into the IPC’s growing global base of associate members.”

Poultry industry representatives in 24 countries are members of the IPC, which was formed in 2005 as a forum for the world’s poultry-producing countries. The organisation represents about 85 per cent of the world’s poultry production and nearly 96 percent of global trade in poultry meat.