This year has been rife with unprecedented challenges for small businesses — especially those in the food-and-beverage industry. Supply chain shortcomings have been thrown into stark relief, but perhaps nowhere more than among meat manufacturers. The plants of the “Big Four” meatpackers — Tyson, Cargill, JBS USA and National Beef — proved highly susceptible to outbreaks, and when they began operating at reduced capacity, meat prices soared.
