Tyson Foods Inc. president and incoming chief executive officer Tom Hayes and chief financial officer Dennis Leatherby told investors at the Bernstein Consumer Summit that the company continues to see growth in its retail and foodservice businesses.

“We continue to see success in leveraging consumer insights in our prepared foods’ business, and the most recent data indicate that our Core 9 categories and foodservice top tier offerings continue to outperform the industry,” said Hayes. 

“This growth, coupled with beef and pork segments performing well in excess of their normalized ranges, has us poised to achieve our best quarter in history,” he added. 

He also reiterated from the company’s recent earnings call that the company’s chicken and prepared foods margins have returned to their normalized ranges.  According to Hayes, "The first quarter is off to a phenomenal start.  As soon as the quarter is complete, we will begin our review of annual guidance, and we will address in the February earnings call when we have some more visibility for the year.” 

In response to a question about recent news articles describing allegations of manipulation of the Georgia Dock index and a recent antitrust lawsuit filing, Hayes said, “The claims made in these stories and the lawsuit are simply not true, and we will continue to operate our business with integrity and drive value to our customers and consumers.”

Source: Tyson Foods Inc.