Tyson Foods is the largest meat company in the United States, processing chicken, beef and pork that ends up in supermarkets, restaurants and school cafeterias nationwide. Prepared foods brands such as Jimmy Dean, Hillshire Farm and Ball Park add branded, higher-margin products atop the commodity protein business. Margins swing with cattle cycles, feed costs and export demand, making earnings volatile even as volumes stay steady, since protein consumption changes little with the economy. Founded in 1935, the company remains under Tyson family voting control.