As our primary line of ground beef, Our Certified^™ is available in a wide range of lean points and source grinds, providing choices for every preference. Sold through select grocery stores nationwide, Our Certified ground beef delivers quality and freshness you can taste in every delicious bite.
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Delivering great performance for any application, Skillet Essential^® brings great ground beef to the table at a value price. Available in both 73/27 and 80/20 lean points, Skillet Essential is a great choice for any meal from burgers to spaghetti.
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Produced regionally to ensure the freshest ground beef possible, Meadowland Farms^® ground beef is designed to support your busy lifestyle. Offering a wide range of lean points and source grinds, Meadowland Farms is where fresh meals begin.
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While it isn't a brand you're likely to see while shopping, Excel^® ground beef represents the majority of the ground beef we deliver. Usually packaged in-store by our retail grocery customers, this is the ground beef you'll most commonly find in overwrapped trays in your grocer's meat case.
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There are many more brands in the Cargill ground beef family that you may find at your local grocery store. And all of them promise the same high quality and great flavor you expect from Cargill brands.
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Ground beef: from ancient delicacy to modern staple

While ancient Europeans often ate minced or chopped beef, ground beef as we know it today is primarily an American invention that has since fueled appetites worldwide. Explore the history of ground beef and discover how something as simple as a patty on a roll could turn a niche protein into an international phenomenon.

1200s

Minced/chopped beef and beef tartare are consumed
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early 1500s

Spanish explorers introduce beef cattle to North America
1662

William Pynchon becomes the first commercial meat packer in America
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1818

First major packing center is established in Cincinnati, OH
1834

First printed menu reference in the U.S. of the Hamburg steak at New York's Delmonico Restaurant
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1855

Swift and Company is formed; is now a wholly owned subsidiary of JBS S.A.

Image Credit: The Brent C. Dickerson archive; used by permission.
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1865

Union Stock Yard and Transit Company is developed in Chicago, IL, becoming the center of the American meatpacking industry for decades
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1867

Armour and Company, one of the first large American meatpacking companies and first to use a plant assembly line, is founded in Chicago, IL
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1870s

Technological advancements, such as refrigerated rail cars and electricity make year-round business possible for the meat packing industry
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1885

Burger on a bun introduced at the Erie County Fair in Hamburg, NY
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1887

Cudahy Packing Company is established as the Armour-Cudahy Packing Company; by 1922 they are one of the largest packing houses in the U.S. with 8 facilities and 97 distribution centers
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1890

President Benjamin Harrison signs the first law requiring inspection of meat products
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1897

Salisbury steak, considered a forerunner of what is now known as the hamburger, is first noted in print
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1906

Federal Meat Inspection Act passed, representing one of the first U.S. laws to set federal food processing standards
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1908

Chico Ice & Cold Storage Co. becomes one of the first places in the U.S. for farmers to store fresh meat
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1912

Hamburger patty is served on a yeast roll and the term "hamburger" becomes a common reference
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1916

Thomas Wilson establishes Wilson & Co., which soon becomes one of the largest meat providers in the U.S.
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1921

White Castle, considered the first hamburger stand, opens in Wichita, KS
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1922

Institute of American Meat Packers (IAMP) launches new scientific research and industry education including a consumer meat promotion
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1936

Excel Packing Company established in Chicago, IL
1940

McDonald's starts as a barbeque restaurant in San Bernardino, CA
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1941

Excel Packing Company moves to Wichita, KS
1950s

An improved interstate highway system, refrigerated truck transport and cropland irrigation gives plants the opportunity to move to more affordable rural areas closer to the supply source
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1950s

A concentration of large-scale commercial feedlot operations first appears in California, then rapidly expands to other areas
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1953

Insta-Burger King (later re-named Burger King) begins operations in Jacksonville, FL
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1954

Beef cows (25 million head) outnumber milk cows (24 million head) for the first time in U.S. history
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1960s

Construction of large, efficient plants is the outcome of major innovations in cattle harvesting
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1961

IBP is formed in Denison, IA
1966

Missouri Beef Packers is formed in Rockport, MO
1967

Wholesome Meat Act of 1967 requires state inspection programs "equal to" that of the federal government, which are administered by the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the United States Department of Agriculture
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1967

McDonald's Big Mac is invented
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Image Credit: Simon Miller via photopin cc
1969

Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers opens in Columbus, OH
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Image Credit: wsj.net
1970

Excel Packing Company changes name to Kansas Beef Industries
1974

Kansas Beef Industries and Missouri Beef Packers merge to form MBPXL Corporation. Kansas Beef Industries operations included Excel Packing, Kansas Packing and the 29th street plant, in Wichita, KS, and KBI in Philadelphia, PA; Missouri Beef facilities located in Rockport, MO, Friona, TX, Plainview, TX and Boise, ID
1975

Cargill purchases feedlots in Dalhart, TX and Leoti, KS
1979

Cargill acquires MBPXL in Wichita, KS
1980s

Processing facilities constructed in Dodge City, KS and High River, AB, Canada; processing facilities acquired in Ft. Morgan, CO and Schuyler, NE; feedlots purchased in Bovina, TX and Lockney, TX
1982

MBPXL is renamed Excel Corporation in Wichita, KS
1993

Public demands safer ground beef processes following a large outbreak of E. coli 0157:H7
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1993

Cargill acquires Brampton, Ontario facility in Canada
1993

USDA approves the patented technology used to create Finely Textured Beef (FTB)
1996/1997

Excel completes installation of thermal (steam) pasteurization in its seven U.S. and Canadian beef plants, greatly reducing the risk of pathogens like E. Coli O157:H7
1998

Cargill builds Newnan, GA facility
2000s

Cargill constructs Hazelton, PA and Chambly, QU, Canada facilities; acquires processing facilities in Butler, WI, Milwaukee, WI, Fresno, CA, Wyalusing, PA as well as Guelph, ON and Watson, ON, Canada; and purchases feedlot in Eckley, CO
2002

Cargill develops technology to remove debris and thoroughly cleanse cattle hides as they move through the plant
2004

Excel is renamed Cargill Meat Solutions and headquartered in Wichita, KS
2007

Ground beef is present in nearly 60 percent of all in-home beef servings
2008

Cargill builds ground beef facility in Fresno, CA
2009

Cargill acquires facility in Columbus, NE
2010

Cargill begins operations in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
2011

Cargill converts Marshall, MO pork harvest facility to both beef and pork production
2012

Controversy surrounding Lean Finely Textured Beef (LFTB) rocks the industry after a series of conflicting and confusing media reports
2012

Ft. Worth, TX ground beef processing facility is acquired