Tyson Foods 2002 Annual Report Download - page 6

p 4
This year was about analyzing and restructuring our business for growth, both domestically and interna-
tionally. We sought to balance our portfolio of products and improve our ability to serve our customers.
As a result of our analysis, we have streamlined the Company. We put all of the Prepared Foods Group
onto Tyson’s information systems, eliminated redundant positions, closed the Foodbrands corporate
headquarters and closed six non-performing production facilities. In addition, we restructured our live
swine operation and sold our Mallard’s and Specialty Brands businesses. To fill in a gap in retail processed
meats, we bought a bacon facility, and we now have the number one share in bacon processing. We will
continue to look for opportunities to fill strategic gaps and to expand domestically.
We are making these changes with one overriding purpose in mind: to better serve our customers.
Customers are looking for true partners to make their businesses as efficient as possible, and today
we can serve them by offering a wide variety of protein-based foods. I think this is a key point of
differentiation between Tyson Foods and the competition – the opportunity to bring total value to
the customer. Also, we have consolidated our broker network to better serve our retail and foodservice
customers by providing a full array of products and services through an integrated supply chain.
Our supply chain is unparalleled. We have 130 processing locations, 10 forward warehouses and
distribution centers, 11 cold storage warehouses and more than 1,300 tractors and 2,100 trailers.
Tyson Foods is the only company with the internal capabilities to produce and ship fresh, refrigerated
and multi-protein frozen products. We have a company-wide planning and scheduling system, and our
electronic business capabilities include a vendor managed inventory system.
This year of analyzing our business also has led us to expand the use of the Tyson brand into other
proteins and product categories. The Tyson brand is replacing the Thomas E. Wilson brand on roasts
and other further processed beef and pork products and case-ready pork. Initially we are converting
all Thomas E. Wilson branded case-ready beef to clear film packaging with no brand affiliation.
This strategic decision regarding our brand resulted from extensive research and evaluation of customers
and consumers over the past year. Consumers clearly identify the Tyson brand as one of the strongest
and most trusted in America with 91 percent recognition. A conversion from the Thomas E. Wilson
brand to the Tyson brand will accelerate our ability to meet the needs of our customers, will maximize
our brand building efforts with consumers and is the best long-term strategy for our company.
Maximizing the Tyson brand is important as we continue to develop the next generation of branded beef
and pork products, just as we’ve done with chicken for years. We are the pioneer and leader of case-ready
beef and pork. Our fully-cooked product line is the number one selling cooked meat line in America,
surpassing the competition earlier this year. Not only are we now the category leader in dollar volume
but also in sales velocity, outperforming our nearest competitor 1.4 times. In addition, the new line
extension of family-sized hams and cooked pork tenderloins is gaining acceptance quickly.
Tyson Foods’ strong presence is not limited to the United States. We have a two-pronged international
strategy – to market domestically produced commodity and value-added products to international
destinations and to establish production capabilities in international locations. This allows us to serve
Defining the Tyson Culture
We’ve worked hard this past year to build
this great new company. Defining principles
have played, and will continue to play, an
important role in our success. We are pas-
sionately focused on driving customer
satisfaction; our can-do attitude gets the job
done – even when the odds are stacked
against us. We believe in honesty, integrity
and mutual respect for our team members,
customers and shareholders. You see these
values reflected in everything we do.
As the leader of this growing company,
I have taken the responsibility to define the
values that will form the basis for our new
culture. We’ve spent a great deal of time
planning the direction the business needs
to take, and I want to make sure we instill
certain values that will help shape the way
our culture develops. I’ve put together, with
the help of some of our team members, the
values that will form the foundation of our
evolving culture. Our commitment to these
shared core values will contribute to our
growth and success.