Answer:
dominated the meat industry.
Step-by-step explanation:
Both chicken meat (poultry) and pork meat industries are extremely vertically integrated in the US. Companies have tried to vertically integrate the beef industry but they haven't been successful, at least not yet. The most vertically integrated industry is poultry, which is one of the reasons why total output and productivity have continuously increased in the past years. Corporations own basically every stage of the poultry industry starting from breeder flocks, hatchery, grow-out flocks, processing plant, feed mill, transportation, and marketing.
Even though the beef industry is still reluctant to being completely vertically integrated, 85% of all meat produced in the US is produced by only 4 corporations (2013 data) and that percentage should be increasing.
Vertical integration refers to an strategy carried out by a corporation to have larger control over its upstream or downstream supply channels.
- Vertically integrating the upstream supply channel refers to acquiring vendors, e.g. a car manufacturer acquires a tire manufacturer.
- Vertically integrating the downstream supply channel refers to acquiring distributors or retail stores, e.g. the same car manufacturer acquiring car dealers.