Business | Lots of cattle, less hat

Can JBS remain the world’s biggest food producer?

The Brazilian giant now sells more grub than Nestlé

BRAZIL - MARCH 16: Cattle stand at the Zenith III farm near Alta Floresta, Brazil, on March 16, 2007. J&F Participacoes SA, which controls JBS SA, Latin America's biggest meat producer, agreed to acquire Swift & Co. of the U.S. for $225 million in cash to create the world's largest beef and pork processor. (Photo by Paulo Fridman/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Aug 18th 2022|São Paulo

Just over five years ago jbs and its then chief executive, Joesley Batista, embodied everything that was wrong with Brazilian business. Mr Batista, son of the meat giant’s eponymous founder, José Batista Sobrinho, was fleeing Brazilian prosecutors, his Italian-made yacht Why Not? in tow, over his role in a gargantuan bribery scandal. (He was eventually caught.) jbs was fending off accusations of selling dodgy meat and razing the Amazon to raise cattle (both of which it denies). Investors and customers stampeded out.

This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Lots of cattle, less hat”