C. Larry Pope, CEO forSmithfield Foods, said last week that the company is becoming a packaged-foods company, relying less on hogs and fresh pork products.

"We are on the cusp of changing who this company is," Pope said at the Barclays Capital Back-to-School Consumer Conference. "We are emerging as a global leader in the packaged-meats business."

While the company will continue to produce hogs and fresh pork,Reutersreports, packaged meats will play a larger role, including products under the Armour, Eckrich and Farmland brands. Pope called the company's hog unit its “Achilles' heel,” but he added that Smithfield will not exit the hog production business. "We are looking more like a consumer packaged goods company than we are an agribusiness player," he said.

After Pope's announcement, Smithfield's shares rose 67 cents, or 5.1 percent, to $13.80, according to AP reports.


Source: Reuters, Associated Press