American Foods Group

American Foods Group, LLC (AFG) is a significant, privately-held meat processing company in the United States, headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The company's history traces back to 1971 when Paul Schanno and Roger Miller purchased Endlich Packing Company, renaming it Green Bay Dressed Beef. They established American Foods Group in 1975 after acquiring another slaughterhouse. A pivotal moment came in 1985 when Carl Kuehne, a lawyer with a family history in the meat industry, acquired the company. Under Kuehne's leadership, AFG expanded from a slaughterhouse-only business into a major processor, embracing innovations like case-ready products early on, which are pre-packaged, labeled, and priced for retailers. By 2000, the company's sales reached an estimated $580 million, and it was recognized as one of Fortune 500's largest privately held U.S. companies. Carl Kuehne passed away in January 2024.

AFG operates as a vertically integrated business, handling everything from cattle procurement to distribution. Its business model focuses on processing and distributing a wide array of meat products for retail, foodservice, and international markets. The company is a subsidiary of Rosen's Diversified Inc., a family-owned entity since 1946 that also operates in agricultural chemicals and transportation, creating a farm-to-table ecosystem. This structure provides AFG with stable supply chains and efficient distribution through its own carrier, America's Service Line. The company serves major retail and foodservice accounts, offering both its own brands and private labeling options. AFG processes and ships over 5 million pounds of beef daily and employs over 4,500 people across facilities in several states including Wisconsin, Ohio, Nebraska, and Minnesota.

The company's product portfolio is extensive, featuring fresh beef, ground beef, case-ready items, and specialty products like sausages, steaks, corned beef, and hot dogs. AFG markets its products under numerous brands, including America's Heartland Beef, Sheboygan Sausage Company, King's Command Foods, and Great American Steaks. They also provide Halal-certified products for international markets and have a dedicated foodservice division offering center-of-the-plate protein solutions. A key part of their strategy involves producing raw materials for other companies to use in finished, value-added products, ensuring they do not compete directly with these customers.

Keywords: beef processing, meat packing, food production, foodservice supplier, retail meat products, case-ready beef, ground beef, private label meat, vertically integrated agriculture, Rosen's Diversified, Carl Kuehne, fresh meat, frozen meat, sausage manufacturing, international meat exporter, pork processing, America's Service Line, meat distribution, beef procurement, wholesale meat