Meat snacks and sticks, particularly in the better-for-you market space, are soaring in popularity, but not all brands are benefitting the same way. Archer has reached aggressively across distribution channels with statistics that not only tell the obvious story — “stock us, we’re better” — but also educates retail buyers on exactly how the meat snack category performs for them vis-a-vis competitors and what they can do to boost their sell-through, as Archer’s Vice President of Marketing Andrew Thomas explains in this episode of MeatingPod. Meanwhile, the data also informs Archer’s new marketing campaign, a tongue-in-cheek look at what it means to be “real.”

Would your plant — or your company — survive the overnight disappearance of more than half of your operations workforce? Glenn Valley Foods in Omaha did, after an ICE raid in June. In a conversation with Meatingplace Editor-in-chief Tom Johnston, Glenn Valley President Chad Hartmann tells the inside story of the raid and what the company did in the days and weeks that followed that got it back on its feet. And Hartmann issues a warning: Any processor, big or small, could be next.

What goes into the decision to fight — or settle — accusations of price-fixing and collusion? The calculation is different for each company, but the fallout of the antitrust cases filed against meat and poultry processors still rains on the industry, and will do so for years. 

Meatingplace News Editor Chris Moore joins MeatingPod for the second episode of a deep dive into the raft of antitrust cases filed against processors over the last nine years. In this installment, we tackle the hidden costs of a lawsuit, what the next wave of cases probably will look like, and the bipartisan sentiment that pushes hard against the ongoing consolidation in the processing industry.

For nearly a decade, processors of all types of meat have been hauled into court on allegations of price-fixing and other types of collusion. The legalities are complex — and expensive. Most companies are choosing to settle before the case gets to trial. A notable exception is Wayne-Sanderson, which was just Sanderson Farms when a jury handed the company a victory in late 2023.

Meatingplace News Editor Chris Moore joins MeatingPod for a two-episode, deep dive into these antitrust cases, and their long-term implications for the poultry processing industry.

This first conversation tackles the Wayne-Sanderson case.

Pork is enjoying a moment in the sun, after a bumpy post-pandemic ride. Affordable feed and expensive beef are fueling demand for the red meat, even as upheaval around tariffs and the offsetting changes in the value of the US dollar work to sow uncertainty in the market. In this MeatingPod episode, Mark Jordan, executive director and senior livestock economist for LEAP Market Analytics, discusses these and many other factors that are steering the U.S. pork market into the second half of 2025.

The annual convention of the American Assn. of Meat Processors tends to be more of a friends-and-family-type gathering than most other meat industry meetings, but the issues tackled over those days are as large as any processor faces. In this episode of MeatingPod, Meatingplace Managing Editor Peter Ricci introduces two interviews he did on-site at the 2025 AAMP convention, diving deep into the challenges faced by the sector’s small, often family-owned meat processing companies.

Consumers often say they would buy more meat and poultry if they knew it was more sustainable. At the same time, nearly as many shoppers say they don’t know exactly what steps protein companies have taken to improve sustainability.

One of the fastest ways to get a sustainability message to customers and consumers is through the packaging that’s around the product. Research in sustainable packaging is exploding with new technologies, as our guest, Dr. Eva Almenar of Michigan State’s School of Packaging, explains.

The challenge remains, as always, in getting the message across to the consumer about what is truly sustainable.

This episode mentions two research papers on topics being discussed. Those papers can be read here and here.

It’s mid-2025, and the poultry complex has had a tough first half. But, the next months look brighter, as Dr. Ashley Peterson notes in today’s MeatingPod episode.

The senior vice president of scientific and regulatory affairs for the National Chicken Council tells us how broiler producers can find federal aid to install new technologies to fight HPAI. She also explains how the association will jump into the just-launched national discourse on ultra-processed foods. And looking ahead, Ashley addresses salmonella — a most stubborn pathogen — and how artificial intelligence could mean more than the phrase-of-the-moment to the poultry industry.

In this episode, Ashley discusses USDA APHIS programs available to help producers address HPAI and biosecurity. The link to that web page is here.

Good old-fashioned meat from livestock is enjoying renewed popularity, a shift in the zeitgeist fueled by consumers’ demand for simpler, more natural, and less- or unprocessed food products. Add to that a social backlash against plant-based meat substitutes, and a renewed connection in people’s minds between meat and masculinity. Meat advocates and companies no doubt are enjoying the break from years of unrelenting criticism.

But don’t get too comfortable. According to MeatingPod guest Kevin Ryan, owner of Malachite Strategy and Research, meat companies are looking at a lot of upside in the market right now, but risk overplaying their hand if they lean too heavily on the trend. As an anthropologist and food scientist, Kevin takes the long view on how social changes affect how we eat. There are plenty of lessons for meat processors in what he has to say.

After a white-knuckle first half of the year, the meat alternatives sector stares down the rest of calendar 2025 from a position of retail weakness. Sales trends that seemed poised to turn positive again at the end of last year, didn’t materialize, and dour consumer sentiment could easily drown other, more optimistic economic indicators.

Chris DuBois, Circana’s executive vice president and Perimeter Practice Leader, once again brings his insights to MeatingPod, discussing what’s happened so far this year, what he expects for the rest of 2025, and how alternative meat processors can be position themselves for retail sale now.