SWIFT & COMPANY

BRAND NAME COOKING WITH SWIFT & COMPANY

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HISTORY

The following is an excerpt from the book Ideas that Became Big Business by Clinton Woods. Published by Founders, Inc. Baltimore, MD, 1959, 414 pages.

Buy this book: Ideas That Became Big Business

The Swift Story

"In 1855 a fifteen-year old farm boy borrowed $20 from his father and bought a fat heifer from a Cape Code neighbor. It was a bold investment for a mere youth to undertake but the young man knew exactly how to make the transaction a profitable one.

After the animal was killed in a barn at home, he dressed it and his cuts were so good, his prices so reasonable, that he had little difficulty in selling the beef from his red wagon to the women of the neighborhood. On finally selling the heifer's hide he ended up with a small profit and thus did Gustavus Swift establish himself in business.

This was the "heifer deal" celebrated in meat packing lore, and from it young Swift began a career that was to lead not only to the vast organization of Swift & Company but from this point, too, can be traced the whole conception of the modern meat industry, shaped as it was by the methods he established in his own firm.

Young Swift's red wagon rolled on. He became a retailer and later a wholesaler of meat. He moved steadily westward, toward the source of livestock supply for he believed that Chicago, the railroad terminus, was destined to become the nation's largest livestock market. So, in 1875, at the age of 35, he arrived in the city as a cattle buyer.

At that time the established packers of Chicago were essentially interested in pork, curing and packing the meat during the winter months. Except for supplying local markets there was little else to occupy them as live cattle were shipped to the East in railroad cars for processing there.

Soon after Swift arrived in Chicago he conceived the idea of establishing a fresh meat business--one that would buy livestock from the plains, dress the meat in large plants close to the source of supply, and ship the produce to the fast-growing population of the east.

To set up such a business, a practical "ice-box on wheels" was needed. Although several men had developed refrigerated cars, many had serious faults. This is where Swift intervened. He used the best ideas, raised the money, and built ten wagons which were the forerunners of today's refrigerator cars.

On April 1, 1885 when the one-heifer deal was thirty years old, the business was incorporated as Swift & Company in the State of Illinois with a capital of $300,000.

Although the company headquarters remained in Chicago, Swift constantly sought to get as close as possible to the source of supply. If the move to processing in Chicago had saved 1,000 miles of extra transportation costs on live animals, it was reasonable to suppose that establishing plants farther west might save 1,500 miles. Swift's immediate answer was to build additional meat packing plants in other centers of livestock production.

The founder died on March 29, 1903 at the age of 63--48 years after he had started in business. The first heifer had become millions of animals; the original capital of $20 in 1855 had grown to $25,000,000. Annual sales had leaped to the staggering figure of $200,000,000.

Since then the company has continued to grow and prosper. New plants have been opened in many locations and the company's activities have grown into many related fields.

Its most important job today is the processing of basic foods--meats, poultry, eggs, butter, cheese, ice cream, lard, shortenings, margarine, etc., as well as a lengthy list of nourishing protein foods and fats. In addition the company processes protein feeds and minerals for livestock and poultry, agricultural chemicals, industrial oils, glues and adhesives, soaps and dog food. Wool and leather operations are other important by-product activities.

Swift & Company plants, sales and distributing units may be found throughout the United States, Canada, and other countries. There are now about 500 establishments, and the total employment figure is in the region of 64,000. Total sales in 1958 were more than $2,600,000,000.

The company has continued to pioneer--in the tradition of its founder. It has, for many years, been a leader in research and study of nutrition in all its aspects. Better products and better packaging can only lead to better health--there can be no greater maxim than that."