Tyson Foods

On February 7, 2019, Tyson Foods reached an agreement to acquire the European and Thai businesses of Brazilian food company BRF. The acquisition was completed on June 3, 2019. On January 10, 2020, Tyson Foods announced that it sold its Golden Island jerky business to Jack Link's. On May 15, 2021, Tyson Foods announced that it was selling its pet treats business, including True Chews, Nudges and Top Chews, to General Mills for $1.2 billion. The sale was completed on July 7, 2021.

In May 2023, Tyson Foods Inc. announced its acquisition of Tennessee-based Williams Sausage Co., a processor of fully cooked sausage, bacon, sandwiches and other items for retail and foodservice customers. In March 2024, it was announced Tyson Foods had sold its broiler processing plant, hatchery and feed mill in Dexter, Missouri to the American fresh egg producer, Cal-Maine Foods for an undisclosed amount. In 2023 and 2024, in response to market demands and a decline in earnings, Tyson Foods closed some of its United States plants in an effort to optimize operations. On January 20, 2026, two locations were closed: Lexington, Nebraska, where approximately 3,200 jobs were lost; and Amarillo, Texas, where 1,761 employees were affected.

Meat alternatives and clean meat

In 2016, Tyson Foods bought a 5% stake in the meat alternative company Beyond Meat, becoming the first major meat producer to invest in a meat alternative company. Tyson made an additional investment in Beyond Meat in 2017. In 2019, Tyson sold its stake in advance of Beyond Meat's initial public offering, with CEO Noel White saying Tyson intended to develop its own meat alternatives. The company also developed the "blended products" line called Raised and Rooted, which featured a combination of animal and plant based ingredients. This line initially included vegetarian nuggets as well as burgers with a blend of beef and pea protein, then expanded to include tenders. In 2020, Tyson discontinued the burger and removed egg whites from the nuggets, announcing that the Raised & Rooted brand would be free of animal products moving forward.

In early 2018, Tyson, through its venture capital arm Tyson Ventures, funded clean meat (cultured meat) research with an investment in California-based Memphis Meats. The same year, Tyson Ventures also invested $2.2 million in Israel-based clean meat company Future Meat.

Former CEO Tom Hayes said Tyson's investments in clean meat and meat alternatives "might seem counterintuitive", but they are part of an effort to meet future consumer demand in a sustainable way. The company also announced in July 2015 that it had reduced the use of human antibiotics in its chicken by more than 84% since 2011.

Insects

In 2023, Tyson announced an investment in Protix, a company which raises insects to feed to pets and to non-human animals intended for human consumption.

Sports collaborations

Since 2024, Tyson has partnered with sports teams, including the Green Bay Packers, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Dallas Cowboys, and the Arkansas Razorbacks to release chicken nugget products with team-specific branding. The Arkansas Razorbacks collaboration also included sponsored logos for Tyson and Walmart to appear on the team's football field.

Corporate charity

Since 2000, Tyson Foods has donated millions of dollars in cash to help non-profit organizations throughout the country. Forbes named Tyson Foods the second most proportionally generous company for its donations in 2007, totaling 1.6% ($8 million) of its annual operating income. Tyson initiated the KNOW Hunger campaign in early 2011 to raise awareness of hunger in the United States. After the Joplin, Missouri tornado of 2011, Tyson sent 77,000 pounds of food to the city. It also sent 100,000 pounds of food to the communities along the Gulf of Mexico after the April 20, 2010, oil spill. In 2012, Tyson donated 38,000 pounds of chicken to Ozarks Food Harvest in the name of the fifth annual McDonald's Cans for Coffee food drive. Tyson has supported "Little Free Pantries," and has partnered with the Chicago Urban League for educational programs on misconceptions about SNAP (food stamp) benefits. During fiscal year 2015, Tyson donated more than 9 million pounds of food. Tyson also "pledged to invest $50 million by 2020 in various efforts to fight food insecurity" in 2015. The company provided $60 million in bonuses to frontline workers and truck drivers in March 2020 for supporting operations to provide food during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tyson has also partnered with Feeding America donating $2.5 million and 2.5 million pounds of protein each year in 2022 and 2023. In July 2024, following Hurricane Beryl, Tyson's Meals That Matter disaster relief program provided meals to communities in Houston, Texas. In October 2024, Meals That Matter provided meals to Florida and Georgia communities affected by Hurricane Helene. In April 2025, the program sent meals to help those impacted by flooding in Kentucky. In November 2025, Tyson partnered with McDonald's to donate 40,000 pounds of chicken meat to Ozarks Food Harvest. Tyson Foods has made political donations to both major parties.

Research and development

In 2007, Tyson created the Tyson Discovery Center, a 100,000-square-foot (9,300 m2) R&D center at their headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas, to work on new products and better packaging. They later opened a second Discovery Center in Downers Grove, Illinois.

A USDA inspection announced in August 2024 found that 20% of tested beef samples on track to be labeled as antibiotic-free were positive for antibiotics. The advocacy group Farm Forward found, through a Freedom of Information Act request, that Tyson was one of several producers of beef that tested positive for antibiotics, alongside JBS and Cargill.

Animal welfare

Tyson Foods has faced criticism over allegations of animal abuse and welfare issues. After undercover investigations of animal abuse at Tyson Foods went public, Tyson argued that the undercover animal rights activists were at fault for the abuse by not actively preventing it.

In 2006, Tyson completed a study to determine whether controlled atmosphere killing, which uses gas to render chickens unconscious before slaughter, could be a more humane practice than conventional electrical stunning. According to Bill Lovette, Tyson's senior group vice president of poultry and prepared foods, the study found no difference between the humaneness of the two methods. The company planned to ask scientists at the University of Arkansas to initiate a similar study to test these initial results.

In 2012, Tyson introduced an auditing program known as FarmCheck to check how animals are treated by the company's suppliers. The program was introduced as a trial on certain hog farms, and was the first major program of its kind to apply penalties to producers for noncompliance. By 2020, FarmCheck had expanded to Tyson's poultry suppliers, and its poultry audits were certified by the Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization.

In 2014, after an NBC News report on abuse of piglets at a Tyson pig farm in Oklahoma, Tyson announced new animal care guidelines, such as keeping sows in larger cages, installing video cameras in cages, using pain mitigation strategies in the castration of piglets, and avoiding killing piglets through blunt force. Animal rights activities called on Tyson to make the guidelines a "mandate" rather than a "recommendation."

In 2015, Tyson Foods severed ties with a supplier after Mercy For Animals published videos showing that employees at a Tyson supplier were stabbing, clubbing and stomping on chickens. A 2016 undercover investigation by the animal rights organization Compassion Over Killing showed workers at four separate Tyson processing plants throwing, punching and kicking chickens, as well as sticking plastic rods through their beaks. They also wrung birds' necks, ran over them with forklifts, and left injured birds in heaping piles to die.

A 2017 investigation showed more abuse and cruelty toward chickens. Tyson responded by saying it would introduce a remote video auditing system to monitor treatment of chickens in its supply chain and hire off-site auditors. The company also started a pilot program for controlled atmosphere stunning, considered to be a more humane method of slaughter. Animal rights activists said the measure did not go far enough. In 2017, Matthew Prescott of the Humane Society of the United States criticized Tyson for failing to implement many of the animal welfare standards that other food suppliers were adopting.

In 2020, Tyson worked with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture to investigate the effects of lighting on broiler chicken welfare. Their research project received a $110,000 grant from the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association. Following a 2020 complaint, the Federal Trade Commission is investigating Tyson for making false and misleading advertising claims regarding the treatment of its chickens.

Food recalls

On January 30, 2019, Tyson Foods announced a recall for over 36,000 pounds of chicken nuggets that were at risk of being contaminated with small pieces of rubber. The recall followed allegations by consumers who submitted complaints to the U.S. Agriculture Department. On March 21, 2019, the company issued a recall for 69,000 pounds of chicken strips potentially contaminated with pieces of metal, following six complaints submitted to the Food Safety and Inspection Service. An expanded recall for nearly 12 million pounds of chicken strips was issued on May 4, 2019.

On June 7, 2019, Tyson Foods announced a recall for over 190,000 pounds of chicken fritters, which potentially contained hard plastic following reports from three consumers. The products were not sold in retail stores but supplied to various food service locations, including schools.

On July 3, 2021, Tyson Foods announced a recall for approximately 8,955,296 pounds of ready-to-eat (RTE) chicken products that may have been adulterated with Listeria monocytogenes. These chicken products were produced between December 26, 2020, and April 13, 2021.