Joe Luter, the Norfolk-born businessman who rescued Smithfield Foods from near bankruptcy and built it into the nation’s largest producer of pork products, passed away last month. Read his obituary here. The size of the bacon market was estimated to be $15.2 billion in 2024. According to one online source, Virginia-based Smithfield accounted for 27% of the U.S. bacon market in 2022. And according to a highly credible source (me), Smithfield’s smoked bacon is incredibly delicious.

For what it’s worth, Luter had retired from Smithfield before corporate leadership agreed to sell the company to a Chinese corporation. China represents the world’s largest market for pork products. Fortunately for Americans, the Chinese have never developed a taste for American-style bacon, so the bacon that Smithfield makes in the U.S. stays in the U.S. — JAB