Day 067 - 15 Dec 94 - Page 25
1 A. Yes, they do.
2
3 Q. Roughly, how many are we talking about?
4 A. Suppliers, slaughterhouses?
5
6 Q. Slaughterhouses, yes.
7 A. Probably between 50 and 80. I am not sure about the
8 number.
9
10 Q. Between 50 and 80 in the whole of the USA?
11 A. The suppliers that will supply us. We have -- let me
12 give you an example, two years ago we used 74 suppliers of
13 raw materials.
14
15 Q. When you say "suppliers" are you talking about
16 slaughterhouses?
17 A. The slaughterhouses and deboning houses. In the US
18 they could be combined, just like where we saw on that
19 design in the plant, they could be separate where there is
20 one that does the slaughter and there is a totally
21 different facility away from the that facility that will
22 debone the meat.
23
24 Q. So some of your meat comes from deboning plants?
25 A. That is correct. The total of those numbers two years
26 ago was 74 -- 72 or 74.
27
28 Q. Right?
29 A. In an attempt to better develop our ability to trace
30 the meat back to the farm, we have reduced those numbers.
31
32 Q. To what now?
33 A. I am not sure about the extent today. If need be,
34 I can provide you with that information pretty soon.
35
36 Q. Is that process of using less slaughterhouses and deboning
37 plants something that was started in the last few years or
38 was that something going back further than that?
39 A. We have probably maintained a range. In most
40 countries, including the US, the supplier of beef will
41 change throughout the year. It will change from year to
42 year. It will go in cycles. Today there is a, or this
43 year, there is an over abundance, over supply, of beef so
44 there is not a need for us to increase our number of
45 slaughterhouses or deboning facilities that can supply us.
46
47 There have been times where there is a drought or there are
48 less animals that are being fed, that there is a shortage
49 of beef. The current slaughterhouses that will produce it
50 will not have enough capacity to supply with enough beef
51 for our needs, so we have to rely on other slaughterhouses,
52 so that the number of slaughterhouses that we work with
53 that will supply our suppliers, that will supply
54 McDonald's, will change from year to year and it will
55 change from quarter to quarter.
56
57 Q. But you said that in the last few years you have reduced
58 the number of slaughterhouses and deboning plants that
59 supply you so that you can ---
60 A. We have reduced -----
