Poultry and Poultry Product Merchant Wholesalers
Description
This sector encompasses businesses that act as middlemen, buying and selling live and processed birds without ownership of the underlying livestock. Their primary function involves the bulk redistribution of poultry from processors to restaurants, hotels, schools, institutional buyers, and other wholesale merchants who cannot purchase in such large volumes. Typical daily operations include receiving shipments of live birds, frozen carcasses, and ground or whole birds, followed by rigorous inspection for quality, sanitation, and weight. Workers often perform sorting, trimming, portioning, and packaging to prepare goods for specific customer orders before transporting them via truck or freight. Operators range from small, independent brokers who handle single accounts to massive distribution centers managing regional networks. These enterprises facilitate the essential flow of protein-rich food products within the supply chain. The scale varies significantly, with some facilities handling only a few thousand pounds weekly while others move millions annually across multiple states. By connecting producers with diverse retail and foodservice entities, this industry ensures consistent availability of fresh or frozen bird products throughout the marketplace while adhering to strict safety regulations.
Hierarchy
| Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 42 | Wholesale Trade 2-digit sector | The Sector as a Whole The Wholesale Trade sector comprises establishments engaged in wholesaling merchandise, generally without transformation, and rendering services incidental to the sale of merchandise. The merchandise described in this sector includes the outputs of agriculture, mining, manufacturing, and certain information industries, such as publishing. The wholesaling process is an intermediate step in the distribution of merchandise. Wholesalers are organized to sell or arrange the purchase or sale of (a) goods for resale (i.e., goods sold to other wholesalers or retailers), (b) capital or durable nonconsumer goods, and (c) raw and intermediate materials and supplies used in production. Wholesalers sell merchandise to other businesses and normally operate from a warehouse or office. These warehouses and offices are characterized by having little or no display of merchandise. In addition, neither the design nor the location of the premises is intended to solicit walk-in traffic. Wholesalers do not normally use advertising directed to the general public. Customers are generally reached initially via telephone, in-person marketing, or by specialized advertising that may include Internet and other electronic means. Follow-up orders are either vendor-initiated or client-initiated, generally based on previous sales, and typically exhibit strong ties between sellers and buyers. In fact, transactions are often conducted between wholesalers and clients that have long-standing business relationships. This sector comprises two main types of wholesalers: merchant wholesalers that sell goods on their own account and agents and brokers that arrange sales and purchases for others generally for a commission or fee. (1) Establishments that sell goods on their own account are known as wholesale merchants, distributors, jobbers, drop shippers, and import/export merchants. Also included as wholesale merchants are sales offices and sales branches (but not retail stores) maintained by manufacturing, refining, or mining enterprises apart from their plants or mines for the purpose of marketing their products, and group purchasing organizations primarily purchasing and selling goods on their own account. Merchant wholesale establishments typically maintain their own warehouse, where they receive and handle goods for their customers. Goods are generally sold without transformation, but may include integral functions, such as sorting, packaging, labeling, and other marketing services. (2) Establishments arranging for the purchase or sale of goods owned by others or purchasing goods, generally on a commission basis are known as business-to-business electronic markets, agents and brokers, commission merchants, import/export agents and brokers, auction companies, group purchasing organizations (acting as agents), and manufacturers' representatives. These establishments operate from offices and generally do not own or handle the goods they sell. Some wholesale establishments may be connected with a single manufacturer and promote and sell the particular manufacturer's products to a wide range of other wholesalers or retailers. Other wholesalers may be connected to a retail chain, or limited number of retail chains, and only provide a variety of products needed by that particular retail operation(s). These wholesalers may obtain the products from a wide range of manufacturers. Still other wholesalers may not take title to the goods, but act as agents and brokers for a commission. Although, in general, wholesaling normally denotes sales in large volumes, durable nonconsumer goods may be sold in single units. Sales of capital or durable nonconsumer goods used in the production of goods and services, such as farm machinery, medium- and heavy-duty trucks, and industrial machinery, are always included in wholesale trade. |
| 424 | Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods 3-digit subsector | Industries in the Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods subsector sell nondurable goods to other businesses. Nondurable goods are items generally with a normal life expectancy of less than three years. Nondurable goods merchant wholesale trade establishments are engaged in wholesaling products, such as paper and paper products, chemicals and chemical products, drugs, textiles and textile products, apparel, footwear, groceries, farm products, petroleum and petroleum products, alcoholic beverages, books, magazines, newspapers, flowers and nursery stock, and tobacco products. The detailed industries within the subsector are organized in the classification structure based on the products sold. Agents and brokers primarily engaged in wholesaling nondurable goods, generally on a commission or fee basis, are classified in Subsector 425, Wholesale Trade Agents and Brokers. |
| 4244 | Grocery and Related Product Merchant Wholesalers 4-digit industry group | This industry group comprises establishments primarily engaged in the merchant wholesale distribution of (1) a general line of groceries; (2) packaged frozen food; (3) dairy products; (4) poultry and poultry products; (5) confectioneries; (6) fish and seafood; (7) meats and meat products; (8) fresh fruits and vegetables; and (9) other grocery and related products. |
| 42444 | Poultry and Poultry Product Merchant Wholesalers 5-digit NAICS industry | See industry description for 424440. |
| 424440 | Poultry and Poultry Product Merchant Wholesalers 6-digit U.S. detail | This sector encompasses businesses that act as middlemen, buying and selling live and processed birds without ownership of the underlying livestock. Their primary function involves the bulk redistribution of poultry from processors to restaurants, hotels, schools, institutional buyers, and other wholesale merchants who cannot purchase in such large volumes. Typical daily operations include receiving shipments of live birds, frozen carcasses, and ground or whole birds, followed by rigorous inspection for quality, sanitation, and weight. Workers often perform sorting, trimming, portioning, and packaging to prepare goods for specific customer orders before transporting them via truck or freight. Operators range from small, independent brokers who handle single accounts to massive distribution centers managing regional networks. These enterprises facilitate the essential flow of protein-rich food products within the supply chain. The scale varies significantly, with some facilities handling only a few thousand pounds weekly while others move millions annually across multiple states. By connecting producers with diverse retail and foodservice entities, this industry ensures consistent availability of fresh or frozen bird products throughout the marketplace while adhering to strict safety regulations. |
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Classification References
- 01Merchant wholesale distribution of packaged frozen poultry--are classified in Industry 424420, Packaged Frozen Food Merchant Wholesalers;
- 02Merchant wholesale distribution of canned poultry--are classified in Industry 424490, Other Grocery and Related Products Merchant Wholesalers;
- 03Merchant wholesale distribution of live chicks--are classified in Industry 424590, Other Farm Product Raw Material Merchant Wholesalers; and
- 04Slaughtering and dressing poultry--are classified in U.S. Industry 311615, Poultry Processing.
Index Items
Chicken and chicken products (except canned and packaged frozen) merchant wholesalers
Deli meats, poultry, merchant wholesalers
Eggs merchant wholesalers
Fresh poultry merchant wholesalers
Frozen poultry (except packaged) merchant wholesalers
Packaged poultry (except canned and frozen) merchant wholesalers
Poultry and poultry products (except canned, packaged frozen) merchant wholesalers
Poultry pies (except packaged frozen) merchant wholesalers
Poultry, live and dressed, merchant wholesalers
Processed poultry (e.g., luncheon) merchant wholesalers
Turkey and turkey products (except canned and packaged frozen) merchant wholesalers
How Item Can Help
Item.com's Warehouse Management System tracks live inventory of perishable chicken and turkey parts across regional facilities, ensuring rapid order fulfillment and minimizing waste due to expiration dates.
The Order Management System optimizes the routing of live birds and processed cuts from farms to local grocery distributors, allowing businesses to handle real-time demand spikes without delays.
Transportation Management Software monitors temperature-controlled shipments of fresh poultry in transit, providing compliance reporting and alerts for any deviations that could affect product quality.
External Resources
Census.gov NAICS Detail
Official US Census Bureau definition and scope for NAICS 424440.
Poultry Producers Association of Canada
A leading trade association providing resources for Canadian poultry producers and wholesalers.
USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service - Poultry
Official government database offering comprehensive statistics on US poultry production and wholesale prices.
National Chicken Council
A major trade organization dedicated to supporting the US chicken industry and its wholesale operations.
