Vion N.V. is an internationally operating company of the

meat Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...

and

food industry The food industry is a complex, global network of diverse businesses that supplies most of the food consumed by the world's population. The food industry today has become highly diversified, with manufacturing ranging from small, traditional, ...

with headquarters in

Boxtel Boxtel () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands. The name derives from Buchestelle and is presumably a combination of 'stelle' (Dutch for stable, safe place) and (deer) deer, buck.2019. Etymolog ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. It is among the largest meat producers in Europe, with production sites in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. In 2021, the company had a

revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of product (business), goods and services related to the primary operations of a business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some compan ...

of €4.6 billion.

Ownership

Vion is legally organized as

Naamloze vennootschap (; abbreviated as N.V. or NV ) or (in the French Community of Belgium) ' ('' SA'') is a type of public company defined by business law in the Netherlands, Belgium, Indonesia (where it is known as , correctly abbreviated PT and allows for pri ...

(''N.V.''). Vion's sole

shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of corporate stock refers to an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the ...

is ''

Stichting A () is a Dutch legal entity with limited liability, not aiming to make profit, with no members or share capital, that exists for a specific purpose that is serving a public, social or an idealistic interest. A stichting is allowed to make profit ...

Administratiekantoor SBT'' (SBT). SBT issued

depositary receipt A depositary receipt (DR) is a negotiable financial instrument issued by a bank to represent a foreign company's Public company, publicly traded Security (finance), securities. The depositary receipt trades on a local stock exchange. Depositary rec ...

s for its shares, which are all held by '' Noordbrabantse Christelijke Boerenbond, Rooms-Katholieke Vereniging van Boeren en Tuinders-Ontwikkeling'' (NCB-Ontwikkeling). ''NCB-Ontwikkeling'' in turn acts as the

investment fund An investment fund is a way of investment, investing money alongside other investors in order to benefit from the inherent advantages of working as part of a group such as reducing the risks of the investment by a significant percentage. These ad ...

of ''Zuidelijke Land- en Tuinbouworganisatie'' (ZLTO), an agricultural association with approximately 15,000 members.

History

The company originated in 1934, when the ''Noordbrabantse Christelijke Boerenbond'' (NCB), now known as ''ZLTO'', founded the company ''Destructor NCB'' for processing animal carcasses of the farmers of the NCB. In the 1980s, the company expanded via

takeover In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are publicly listed, in contrast to the acquisi ...

s. In the 1990s, it entered the market for value-added products, mainly

gelatin Gelatin or gelatine () is a translucent, colorless, flavorless food ingredient, commonly derived from collagen taken from animal body parts. It is brittle when dry and rubbery when moist. It may also be referred to as hydrolyzed collagen, coll ...

. It was renamed to ''Sobel N.V.'' In 2002, ''ZLTO'' decided to enter the meat industry. Therefore, the ''ZTLO'' additionally founded the ''Bestmeat Company N.V.'' and brought it together with ''Sobel'' into the new holding company ''Best Agrifund N.V.'' The first takeover in the meat industry was the leading German meat company ''Moksel'' in early 2003. Following, the company took over the leading Dutch meat company ''Dumeco'' in mid-2003, and ''Norddeutsche Fleischzentrale'' (NFZ, ''Nordfleisch'') in the end of 2003. In 2004, ''Hendrix Meat'' was bought from ''Nutreco Holding N.V.'' and in 2005 the German company ''Südfleisch'' was taken over. In 2004, the holding company was renamed from ''Best Agrifund N.V.'' to ''Sovion N.V.'' In July 2006, the company was again renamed from ''Sovion'' to ''VION Food Group''. The sales of Vion grewing from mere €760 million in 2002 to more than €7 billion euro in 2007. In 2008, Vion acquired the lamb and poultry company '' Grampian Country Food Group Ltd'' based in Scotland for more than €400 million and, in 2010, the Dutch cattle slaughtering company ''Weyl Beef''. In 2012, Vion sold her British pork operation to the 2 Sisters Food Group to focus on their Dutch and German operations. In 2019 it announced to close the factory in

Valkenswaard Valkenswaard () is a municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands, in the Metropoolregio Eindhoven of the province of North Brabant. The municipality had a population of in , with an area of of which is water. The name Valkenswaard ste ...

and redistribute staff and products to other factories in Netherland and Germany.

Structure

Vion is divided into four business units

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry, husbandry dating back to 8000–9000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooke ...

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). Beef can be prepared in various ways; Cut of beef, cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often Ground beef, grou ...

food service The foodservice (US English) or catering (British and Commonwealth English) industry includes the businesses, institutions, and companies which prepare meals outside the home. It includes restaurants, grocery stores, school and hospital cafeteri ...

and

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholes ...

. The company has production and sales locations on all continents. The business unit pork comprises 12 production facilities for

pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...

s, four of which are in the Netherlands and eight in Germany. Vion slaughters 15 million pigs annually in total. Vion's largest pig

slaughterhouse In livestock agriculture and the meat industry, a slaughterhouse, also called an abattoir (), is a facility where livestock animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a mea ...

is located in Boxtel with a daily slaughtering capacity of 20,000 pigs. The business unit beef builds upon the annual slaughtering of almost 1 million

cows Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are called co ...

Products

The product portfolio of Vion's core activities comprises fresh pork and beef, a diverse range of

convenience food Convenience food (also called tertiary processed food) is food that is commercially prepared (often through processing) for ease of consumption, and is usually ready to eat without further preparation. It may also be easily portable, have ...

products and a range of vegetarian consumer products. Vion supplies products to more than 100 million consumers daily. 37% of the produced meat is exported.

Controversies

Vion was repeatedly criticized for exploitation of workers. In 2020, there were multiple corona hotspots among meat workers in Vion facilities and the company was criticized for bad living conditions of the workers.

References

External links

Official site "Vion Food Group"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vion Meat companies of the Netherlands Cooperatives in the Netherlands Agricultural organisations based in the Netherlands Food and drink companies established in 1934 1934 establishments in the Netherlands Companies based in North Brabant