SWOT Analysis - Maple Leaf Foods vs. Tyson Foods

                                          Made Available within the City of Toronto archives, Series 1057, Item 766

Maple Leaf is not alone in it's meat-processing business. It's largest competitor and overall the worlds largest processing and marketing company is Tyson Foods, a multinational corporation based in the USA that earns over 30 billion dollars in revenues annually. To add to this mix, Tyson owns Hillshire Brands and Pinnacle Foods, the only other two companies that can be considered competitors to Maple Leaf Foods. This puts this industry at an interesting perspective, with Maple Leaf being an independent company while Tyson acts as a multitude of companies under one so-called flag.

Let's examine Maple Leaf's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats within this market compared to Tyson Foods.

Strengths (Advantages)

• Household name thanks to over a century of history in Canada.
• Diverse product list without resorting to buying out every competitor.
• Price-range scales from cheaper brands to products that attempt quality over quantity, thus satisfying multiple needs.

Weaknesses (Disadvantages)

• Canada is a much smaller market than the USA.
• With the above in mind, one may think the company is too disorganized to not have spread further within a century, or has other inherent issues.

Opportunities (Potential Advantages)

• The company is currently in the process of restructuring, giving room for international expansion, downsizing of liabilities, potential investments. With the right moves they could easily impress stockholders.
• Despite not being a multinational company they own enough brands to guarantee safety in terms of investments, meaning that the future market is open-ended in terms of decisions.
• Maple Leaf Foods is not fully privatized, which can be a last-resort option or something with more thought put into it. 

Threats (Potential Disadvantages)

• Tyson Foods continues to purchase every competitor, increasing their stock portfolio as well as inventory, which would require Maple Leaf Foods to come out with entirely new products to put up a challenge.
• Michael McCain, owner of Maple Leaf, wouldn't be out of his mind to sell the company too. It would be positive if utilized but ultimately would be a major loss in terms of market competition.
• There have been recalls due to various contamination's, straining their image. The results of how much damage these caused has yet to be fully foreseen.

Till next time, I'm Patryk. Stay classy, San Diego.

- Patryk Szuszkiewicz

Economic Sustainability

http://www.developmentcrossing.com/profiles/blogs/corporate-social-responsibility-increases-your-bottom-line

Maple Leaf Foods is a meat-packing empire that has been a part of Canadian business history since 1927, so if one had to make an assumption on their experience in the industry, there's probably very little other corporations that have consistently kept up their dynasty for such a long time. But with a company so big, how do they handle their impact on Canadian life, economy and environment?

Maple Leaf Foods came up with a concrete plan on being a positive influence for the Canadian economy, and that's what this weeks article will be looking at.

Economic Sustainability

Maple Leaf Foods employs approximately 11,500 people across it's wide distribution chain, which at first glance isn't a lot considering the Canadian population, but that's only just the people who work directly for Maple Leaf Foods. The company fronts brands such as Schneider's and Prime for nation wide distribution and brands such as Larsen, Hygrade and Mina for cultural specifications, such as Atlantic Canada, Quebec and Halal-based communities. These are only a few of their projects and overall, with many different products being sold across these brands, they have effectively targeted all of Canada's economic potential.

With their influence spread this wide, Maple Leaf Foods can be involved with both local and large scale meat production, as the only way to get their brands out to the public is through farms that sell raw ingredients, meat processing plants and the large transportation workforce dedicated to keeping a supply chain running smoothly. In 2013 they spent $1 billion in making sure their supply chain is highly efficient, and with time we will see if they can achieve their goals of creating a profitable long-term economic powerhouse for both their own needs and for Canadian needs.

That's it for todays blog, expect more in depth articles soon! Be sure to comment!

- Patryk Szuszkiewicz