As coronavirus rattles industry, Tyson Foods may slash beef prices 20-30%

Meat company offers discounts to retailers

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Tyson Foods Inc. is cutting prices on some beef products for retailers even as the coronavirus pandemic has temporarily shuttered some meat processing plants and threatened to disrupt supply chains.

The discounts will vary, but they could be as much as 20-30 percent, a Tyson spokesperson told FOX Business Wednesday.

Workers line up to enter the Tyson Foods pork processing plant in Logansport, Ind., Thursday, May 7, 2020. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

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Tyson is discounting the items for the rest of this week “in appreciation of the support of our customers,” the spokesperson said. The discounts are also intended to help cattle producers and other segments of the company’s supply chain by working through a backlog of cattle.

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“We’re doing this because we want to help keep beef on family tables across our nation, especially as our beef plants return from reduced levels of production,” they said.

The discounted foods include items like chuck and round roasts, plus various ground beef products, according to Tyson.

A shopper looks at beef at a Kroger store in Atlanta underneath a sign limiting shoppers to three packages of ground beef on Tuesday, May 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy)

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News of the discounts was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. Tyson process about a fifth of all U.S. beef, according to the report.

Several Tyson facilities have been among the meat and poultry plants affected by the coronavirus. COVID-19 cases have been reported in workers at 115 plants in 19 states, according to a recent CDC report.

Tyson's Fresh Meat workers file in for a tour of safety measures put into place after the plant had to shut down due to a COVID-19 outbreak, Wednesday, May 6, 2020, in Waterloo, Iowa. (Brandon Pollock/The Courier via AP)

“The ongoing pandemic has disrupted the food system,” the Tyson spokesperson said. “It’s created challenges for our operations, many of our customers, and consumers. These are unprecedented times, and although they have been difficult, Tyson believes that the future is bright.”

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