Based on total revenue of $12.2 billion, Smithfield placed 218 among the magazine’s top 500 US companies. In 2011, the company ranked 216.

"It's indeed an honour to again be included in the ‘Fortune’ 500 because, for us, it means our customers and consumers continue to place their trust in our company and our employees," said Larry Pope, Smithfield’s president and chief executive officer.

Smithfield Foods was founded in 1936 and has grown from a modest meat packing company located on the banks of the historic Pagan River in Smithfield, Virginia, to its status today as a $13 billion global food company and the world’s largest pork processor and hog producer, employing more than 46,000 people worldwide.

According to ‘Fortune’, its top 500 companies are ranked by total revenues for their respective fiscal years. Included in the survey are companies that are incorporated and operate in the US and file financial statements with a government agency. This includes private companies and cooperatives that file a 10-K or a comparable financial statement with a government agency, and mutual insurance companies that file with state regulators.