We draw a pretty sharp line between editorial and advertising content here, but, of course, in the business of B2B publishing, the two worlds inevitably do collide. And so, for example, when a supplier the size of Middleby acquires a company the size of CP Packaging, another pickup on an accelerating buying spree, we add it as regular news. It’s good information to know for processors who buy their wares, and for us in publishing who sell them ad space.

At first blush, as a company that depends on advertising sales, the trend of big equipment and ingredient suppliers buying up smaller ones is concerning, given the logical scenario that there is, then, ostensibly fewer companies to buy ads. But then again, the CP Packagings of the supplier world weren’t always big enough to be bought; that type of growth started at ground zero and took many years to achieve. There’s nothing to say that more of such firms won’t start out the same way, and with similar ambition for years to come.

As a parallel, we’ve written at length about consolidation in the meat industry at large. And in blogs/editorials, I’ve expressed skepticism about the government’s infusion of billions in funding to small processors and the ability of those efforts to restructure an industry dominated by four multinational packing companies, given their proven economies of size. But maybe, as with the thinking above, it doesn’t have to be all or nothing or one versus the other.

Perhaps they’re parallel industries, and perhaps they’re cyclical, with new players popping up and growing where the others have been plucked or existing players emboldened. Based on conversations we’ve come away with from conferences like that of the American Association of Meat Processors and related plant tours, the growth, investment and evolving business models has been staggering. Many smaller processors have business booked through next year, never slowing since the pandemic supply chain disruptions sent new customers their way.

As with consolidation on the supplier front, consolidation in the meat industry is a reality that comes with consequences, good and bad; it would be negligent to deny the loss of many family businesses and farms due to the economic market forces that changed the landscape in preceding decades. At the heart of these dynamics, though, is the indisputable demand for animal protein, and with that is a market — or markets — with room for new and sustained growth for years to come.

We can count on that demand to continue, but we all — whether we’re selling meat, selling machines that process meat, or selling ad space to the manufacturers of those machines — can’t stop working for that next customer and accounting for changes in how they want our products.

As a small fish in a big publishers’ pond, we’re acutely aware of this game of survival in our own consolidating industry. We’re somewhat of an outlier in that we happen to serve an audience that still largely values a printed product, for example. However, we can’t be certain, as generational preferences change, how long that will last. And so, we work aggressively to diversify our products, formats and revenue sources, while trying to align with customers who are scratching and clawing in the same spirit.

Doom and gloom — and my own skepticism — aside, there is opportunity if we keep our heads up and continue to look for it.

Parallel universes

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