Day 094 - 01 Mar 95 - Page 24
1 MS. STEEL: So there is a separate slaughter line for McDonald's
2 chickens as well?
3 A. No, no, it is the same line except at the end the
4 products are divided, this is for us, and this is for
5 Tysons' customers.
6
7 Q. What, they go through at different times of the day or
8 different days of week?
9 A. No, it is the same line except that we use different,
10 for instance, the drum, the part of the drum, the leg, we
11 would not use that, so they take it and put it in
12 containers and they go on a different pathway. They go and
13 sell those in the open market.
14
15 Q. So at the point when the chickens are being slaughtered the
16 company does not distinguish between, "These chickens are
17 McDonald's and these are some other company's"?
18 A. That is correct.
19
20 Q. It is only at the deboning stage when you start pulling the
21 chicken apart that you start saying: "This bit is for
22 McDonald's; this bit is for some other company"?
23 A. That is correct.
24
25 MR. MORRIS: While we are on the subject of chickens, before we
26 move on, you said, I think, you would try to check what the
27 total number of birds, do you remember, I do not know if
28 you had a chance do that?
29 A. Yes.
30
31 Q. You were not sure whether you take a pound or a
32 pound-and-a-half off?
33 A. If you look for the numbers I have in my briefcase.
34 I am sorry. I left it on my -- I have the numbers here but
35 I summarised the numbers and I was expecting that question
36 yesterday and I left them on my suit, but I give you the
37 facts. From a 6.5 pound bird we use 26 per cent for
38 boneless meat to McDonald's, that is, 1.7 pounds of meat.
39 In 1994 -----
40
41 MS. STEEL: Can you go a bit slower?
42 A. From 1994 we used 182,819,000 pounds of total meat.
43
44 MR. MORRIS: Chicken meat?
45 A. Yes, so if you want to round it up, 183 million, that
46 would be approximate. The Tyson plant produce about 40
47 million pounds -- I am sorry, 40 million birds in 1994, the
48 Equity plant produced about 80 million birds for a total
49 120 million chickens that were produced in those
50 operations. In 1993 the broiler industry produced about
51 6.7 billion broilers, birds, chickens.
52
53 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Just pause a moment. Broiler industry where,
54 in the States?
55 A. In the States. From the production in 1994, which the
56 available is not yet ready, but it is estimated that it
57 increased three per cent, but not taking that into
58 consideration, the percentage of birds that we use was
59 1. -- I have to do it again, I am sorry -- 1.7 or 1.8.
60 That is what I record.
