BRF S.A. (BRFS): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money

When you look at BRF S.A. (BRFS), do you see just a Brazilian food processor, or a global protein powerhouse that generated R$63.95 billion in last twelve months revenue as of mid-2025? In a year of massive strategic shifts, the company delivered its best first half in history, with net income hitting R$1.9 billion by Q2, only to fundamentally reshape its entire future by completing the merger with Marfrig in September. This monumental consolidation, forming the new MBRF Global Foods Company, is defintely a game-changer, but what does it mean for its integrated supply chain, its dominance in the $2 trillion Halal market, and your investment thesis? We'll break down the history, the ownership, and the mechanics of how this new global entity makes its money.

BRF S.A. (BRFS) History

You need to understand that BRF S.A. is less of a startup story and more of a corporate consolidation saga. It didn't start with a small team in a garage; it was forged by merging two Brazilian food titans, a move that instantly created a global powerhouse. This history of ambitious growth through acquisition is key to understanding its current scale and complexity.

Given Company's Founding Timeline

Year established

The formal entity, BRF S.A., was established in 2013 when the merger of its predecessors was fully concluded and the new corporate identity was adopted. The foundational agreement, however, was announced in 2009, bringing together the legacies of Sadia S.A. and Perdigão S.A., which had been operating since 1944 and 1934, respectively.

Original location

The merged entity established its headquarters in Itajaí, Santa Catarina, Brazil, a strategic location in a region central to Brazil's agricultural and food processing industries.

Founding team members

As a consolidation, there was no traditional founding team. The process was driven by the executive leadership and influential shareholders of both Perdigão and Sadia. Key figures from both companies, along with financial institutions, orchestrated the complex integration and subsequent corporate restructuring.

Initial capital/funding

The initial capital was not a seed round but the combined equity and assets of two massive, publicly traded companies. Perdigão essentially acquired Sadia, creating one of the world's largest food exporters overnight. Later, to shore up the balance sheet, the company received significant capital injections, including those from strategic shareholders like Marfrig and Salic in 2022 and 2023.

Given Company's Evolution Milestones

Given Company's Transformative Moments

The company's trajectory has been defined by a few high-stakes, transformative moments that forced deep strategic pivots. These weren't just business decisions; they were survival moves.

• The Merger's Execution (2009-2013): The sheer scale of combining Sadia and Perdigão-rivals for decades-was a massive undertaking. The required divestments by CADE meant BRF had to sell off major domestic brands and production units, which was a painful but necessary trade-off for global scale.
• The Governance and Compliance Crisis (2017-2018): The 'Carne Fraca' (Weak Flesh) investigation hit the company hard, leading to market access issues, fines, and a major reputational challenge. This crisis accelerated the need for a complete overhaul of governance and compliance, proving that operational efficiency means nothing without trust.
• The Capital Injections and Strategic Shift (2022-2023): Facing financial strain, BRF secured large capital injections. This move brought in strategic shareholders like Marfrig and the Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company (Salic), solidifying the balance sheet and enabling a renewed focus on profitable international growth, particularly in the Halal segment.
• The Marfrig Consolidation (September 2025): The definitive merger of operations with Marfrig to create MBRF Global Foods Company is the latest, and defintely most significant, structural change. This move creates a new global giant, fundamentally altering the competitive landscape.

Here's the quick math on recent performance: BRF reported strong Q2 2025 results with net income reaching R$1,493,000,000 and EBITDA at R$2.7 billion, showing a major turnaround in profitability. For the full year 2025, analysts expect revenue to be around $66.15 billion, with earnings per share estimated at $2.16. What this estimate hides is the complexity of integrating the Marfrig merger, which will dominate the near-term focus.

To be fair, the real challenge now is managing the integration of the new MBRF entity while maintaining the operational momentum that delivered a Q3 2025 sales figure of BRL 16,397 million. For a deeper dive into the company's financial standing right now, you should check out Breaking Down BRF S.A. (BRFS) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

BRF S.A. (BRFS) Ownership Structure

The ownership structure of BRF S.A. is now defined by its September 2025 merger with Marfrig Global Foods S.A., which created the new holding entity, MBRF Global Foods Company. This transaction fundamentally shifted BRF S.A. from a company with a diversified institutional base to one under the clear control of a single strategic shareholder.

BRF S.A.'s Current Status

As of November 2025, BRF S.A. is a publicly-held company, but its common shares (BRFS3 on B3 and BRFS American Depositary Shares on NYSE) were delisted and converted following the merger completion on September 23, 2025. The company is now a subsidiary of the newly formed MBRF Global Foods Company, which trades under the symbol MBRFY, consolidating the controlling interest. This means that while BRF S.A. still exists as an operating entity, its strategic direction is now governed by its parent company, Marfrig Global Foods S.A., which drove the merger.

The entire transaction was an exchange: BRF S.A. shareholders received 0.8521 MBRFY American Depositary Shares for each BRFS American Depositary Share they held. That's a clean one-liner on the deal mechanics.

BRF S.A.'s Ownership Breakdown

The table below reflects the primary controlling interests in BRF S.A. (BRFS) immediately following the consolidation of shares that paved the way for the September 2025 merger, representing the ultimate ownership structure as of the 2025 fiscal year. This is how the power is distributed.

BRF S.A.'s Leadership

The leadership team of BRF S.A. continues to manage the day-to-day operations, but the ultimate strategic oversight comes from the board, which is heavily influenced by the controlling shareholder, Marfrig Global Foods S.A. Marcos Antonio Molina dos Santos, the Chairman of Marfrig's Board of Directors, also serves as the Chairman of the Board for BRF S.A. This dual role defintely ties the two companies at the top.

Here's who is steering the ship as of November 2025:

• Chairman of the Board: Marcos Antonio Molina dos Santos.
• Global Chief Executive Officer (CEO): Miguel de Souza Gularte. He has been in the role since August 2022.
• Chief Financial, Investor Relations, Management and Technology Officer (CFO): José Ignácio Scoseria Reys. He assumed this role in September 2025, aligning with the new MBRF Global Foods Company structure.

Understanding this structure is key to analyzing future capital allocation, which you can read more about in our detailed analysis: Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of BRF S.A. (BRFS).

BRF S.A. (BRFS) Mission and Values

BRF S.A.'s core purpose extends beyond its R$ 61.4 billion in 2024 net revenue, centering its cultural DNA on a global commitment to food quality, safety, and sustainable value creation for all stakeholders. The company's long-term aspirations are rooted in becoming the world's most trusted food industry leader, making its mission and values a critical lens for investors to defintely consider.

Given Company's Core Purpose

The company's cultural foundation is built on a commitment to its customers, employees, and the environment, which is essential for a global player operating in over 120 countries with nearly 100,000 employees. This focus is what drives their strategic decisions, like the R$ 3.7 billion record net income reported for the 2024 fiscal year.

• Safety: Prioritizing the well-being of employees and the safety of all food products.
• Quality: Ensuring high standards in processes and final products delivered worldwide.
• Integrity: Conducting business ethically and transparently across all operations.
• Sustainability: Focusing on environmentally responsible practices throughout the supply chain.

Official Mission Statement

BRF S.A.'s mission is to be a part of people's lives by offering tasty foods, with high quality, innovation and at affordable prices anywhere in the world. This means they are focused on meeting the ever-changing demands of consumers by providing solutions that make daily life more practical, flavorful, and healthy. Here's the quick math: delivering quality food to a global market of over 120 countries requires an integrated, high-volume supply chain, which is why they produce about 5 million tons of food per year.

Vision Statement

The company's vision is to be a global company, recognized as the most trusted in the food industry, renowned for the quality of its products, its commitment to efficiency, and its relationships with customers, consumers, employees, society, and shareholders. They aim to be one of the leading food companies in the world, admired for its brands, innovation, and results, contributing to a better and sustainable world.

• Be the most trusted in the food industry globally.
• Achieve recognition for product quality and operational efficiency.
• Contribute to a better and sustainable world.

What this estimate hides is the complexity of maintaining trust across diverse regulatory environments, especially as the company continues to expand internationally, a key driver that helped them achieve a market cap of $7.52 billion as of September 2024.

Given Company Slogan/Tagline

BRF S.A.'s slogan, or tagline, is 'Vida Melhor,' which translates to 'Better Life.' This simple phrase encapsulates their core purpose of improving people's lives through food, connecting their high-volume production to a human outcome. For a deeper look at how these principles translate into financial strength, you can check out Breaking Down BRF S.A. (BRFS) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

Next step: Finance: analyze the capital expenditure (CapEx) allocation for 2025 to see how much is directed toward 'Innovation' and 'Sustainability' to validate their stated values.

BRF S.A. (BRFS) How It Works

BRF S.A. operates as a fully integrated global food company, controlling the entire protein value chain from animal genetics and feed production to processing, distribution, and final sale in over 150 countries. Its core business is turning raw poultry and pork into high-value processed foods, a strategy that drove the Last Twelve Months (LTM) revenue ending June 2025 to approximately R$63.95 billion.

BRF S.A.'s Product/Service Portfolio

BRF S.A.'s Operational Framework

The company's value creation is rooted in its deep vertical integration and a relentless focus on supply chain efficiency, which is defintely the secret sauce.

• Integrated Production Cycle: BRF manages everything from raising poultry and swine to feed production, slaughtering, and industrial processing, ensuring consistent quality and cost control across the chain.
• Global-Local Footprint: It uses strategically located slaughterhouses in Brazil (South, Southeast, Midwest) and a growing international network, like the new food plant in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to mitigate export risks and adapt products to local tastes.
• Efficiency Drive: The BRF+ 2.0 efficiency plan continues to be a major driver, capturing an estimated R$1.5 billion in value during 2024 through streamlined operations and better resource allocation.
• Financial Discipline: Strong operational performance in Q1 2025 yielded a net income of R$1.2 billion, allowing for continued investment in growth while maintaining a low net leverage.

You can see the direct impact of this discipline on the balance sheet by Breaking Down BRF S.A. (BRFS) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

BRF S.A.'s Strategic Advantages

BRF's market success rests on three main pillars: brand power, global scale, and the transformative merger that solidified its future position.

• Unmatched Brand Equity: Iconic Brazilian brands like Sadia (80 years old) and Perdigão (90 years old) give BRF a massive competitive moat, particularly in the domestic and Middle Eastern markets where they have high consumer preference.
• Global Scale and Low-Cost Base: As one of the world's largest protein producers, its sheer scale allows for lower production costs in Brazil, giving it a significant edge over competitors in many export markets.
• Halal Market Specialization: The dedicated OneFoods subsidiary provides a competitive advantage in the high-growth Halal market, serving a massive, specialized customer base across key regions.
• Post-Merger Power: The merger with Marfrig Global Foods in 2025 created a new entity with a consolidated net revenue of roughly R$152 billion, instantly reinforcing its position as a global food giant and unlocking significant synergy potential.

That merger alone changes the entire competitive landscape. It's a game-changer.

BRF S.A. (BRFS) How It Makes Money

BRF S.A. generates its revenue by transforming raw protein-primarily poultry and pork-into a wide portfolio of in natura (fresh) and processed food products, which it then sells across domestic and international markets. Its financial engine is driven by massive scale in Brazil and strategic geographic diversification, particularly in high-growth, high-margin regions like the Middle East and Asia.

BRF S.A.'s Revenue Breakdown

You need to know where the money is actually coming from. As of the second quarter of 2025, BRF S.A.'s net revenue reached R$15.4 billion, with the business nearly split between its home market and its global operations. Here's the quick math on the geographic split, which is the most critical driver of their top-line growth right now.

The Brazil Market segment contributed approximately R$8.1 billion in net revenue for the second quarter of 2025, driven by record sales volumes in processed products. The International Market, which accounted for the remaining revenue, is seeing a strong push from geographic diversification, with 11 new export authorizations in 2025 alone. This diversification is defintely key to offsetting regional risks like temporary export restrictions.

Business Economics

The core economics of BRF S.A. revolve around its fully integrated production chain, which gives them a significant cost advantage, plus a focus on selling higher-margin, value-added products globally. They are not just a commodity producer; they are a branded food company.

• Pricing Power and Strategy: The company employs a dual-market pricing strategy. Internationally, their export pricing maintains a competitive edge, with average global pricing for chicken products being 5% to 7% lower than competitors, which helps secure market share. Domestically, they maintain strong price adherence, especially for major brands like Sadia and Perdigão.
• Cost Structure: The largest component of their cost of goods sold is raw material processing, which was about R$12.5 billion in 2023, primarily feed components like corn and soy. The ongoing BRF+ operational efficiency program is designed to mitigate these commodity price swings, generating R$208 million in savings during the second quarter of 2025 alone.
• Value-Added Focus: Profitability is highest in processed products-like sausages, ham, and ready-to-eat meals-which command a premium over in natura (fresh meat) sales. They are actively expanding their processed food categories in international markets, including new facilities in Saudi Arabia and China.

BRF S.A.'s Financial Performance

BRF S.A. has demonstrated a powerful financial turnaround in 2025, driven by operational discipline and a strong recovery in margins. The first half of 2025 marked the best half-year result in the company's history.

• Net Revenue: Total net revenue for the first half of 2025 was approximately R$30.9 billion (R$15.5B in Q1 plus R$15.4B in Q2). For the third quarter of 2025, sales continued to climb, reaching R$16.397 billion.
• Adjusted EBITDA: The company achieved a record adjusted EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) of R$5.3 billion in the first half of 2025, an 11% increase over the previous year. This metric is a key indicator of their core operational health.
• Net Income: Net income for the first half of 2025 was R$1.9 billion, a 14% increase year-over-year, which shows the cost savings are translating directly to the bottom line. Q3 2025 net income was R$790 million.
• Leverage: Financial discipline is evident in the Net Leverage Ratio (Net Debt/Adjusted EBITDA), which hit a historic low of 0.43 times as of the second quarter of 2025. This low leverage gives them a lot of flexibility for future strategic investments.

To dive deeper into the sustainability of these numbers, you should check out Breaking Down BRF S.A. (BRFS) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors. Finance: Track the Q4 2025 guidance for international segment margin by the end of the month.

BRF S.A. (BRFS) Market Position & Future Outlook

The future of BRF S.A. is now defined by its September 2025 merger with Marfrig Global Foods, creating MBRF Global Foods Company SA, a global protein powerhouse. This consolidation immediately repositions the entity from a major Brazilian player to one of the world's top multi-protein producers, focusing on unlocking R$805 million in annual operational synergies.

Competitive Landscape

In the global protein and processed food market, scale is everything, and the merger dramatically shifts the competitive balance. Here's the quick math: the new MBRF entity's annual revenue of roughly $27 billion makes it a formidable challenger to the established leaders.

Opportunities & Challenges

Looking ahead, the new entity has clear avenues for growth, but it must defintely navigate the complexity of combining two massive organizations. The immediate opportunity is to rapidly integrate Marfrig's beef expertise with BRF's poultry and processed food strength.

Industry Position

The formation of MBRF Global Foods Company SA, with a combined annual revenue of approximately R$152 billion, fundamentally changes BRF S.A.'s industry standing. This scale gives the company a better position to negotiate input costs (like feed grains) and secure new export licenses, which is vital in a volatile global market.

• The company's focus on operational efficiency and financial discipline led to a record first half in 2025, reporting BRL 1.9 billion in net income.
• MBRF is a true multi-protein, multi-geography player, with operations spanning 117 countries, which is a strategic defense against regional trade disruptions.
• While JBS S.A. and Tyson Foods Inc. remain the largest global competitors by overall revenue, the new entity's strength is its deep penetration in the Middle East and its market-leading brands in Brazil (Sadia and Perdigão).

This strategic move is a clear attempt to reduce volatility and create a more resilient platform. You can dig into the shareholder implications of this shift by Exploring BRF S.A. (BRFS) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?