Disgraced Meatpacker to Close Doors

The biggest meat recall in history will put a fork in Hallmark/Westland, the meatpacker’s general manager told the Wall Street Journal. “I don’t see any way we could reopen,” he said. The USDA has said the California company could reopen under the right conditions, but demands that it pay for the meat’s destruction and replacement. “If the USDA wants payment back, we’re dead meat. We’re done.”

The general manager describes the company, which was pulling in about $100 million in annual sales, as “a small private company” in “a low-profit-margin business.” Cash is especially tight because the meatpacker has been closed since the Humane Society aired a video showing workers mistreating cattle, and many customers have stopped payment on recalled meat. Even if it had the cash to reopen, the USDA demands significant changes. (More Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. stories.)