A Brazilian Egg Giant Is Now the World’s Fourth Largest
Brazil · Business
Key Facts
—The leap. Brazil’s Mantiqueira jumped from the world’s 10th to its 4th largest egg producer after buying a US rival.
—The deal. Mantiqueira USA bought Arizona’s Hickman’s Egg Ranch in a transaction estimated at about $300m (R$1.6bn).
—The partner. The US arm is a joint venture between Brazil’s Pinto family and meatpacking giant JBS.
—The scale. Combined laying capacity rises from about 18 million to 28 million hens.
—The damage. Hickman’s lost roughly six million birds, about 95% of its flock, to avian flu in 2025.
—The rebuild. Founder Leandro Pinto says the recovery is about 60% complete, targeting a top four-or-five global position.
A family-run Brazilian egg producer, now backed by one of the world’s biggest meatpackers, has bought its way into the United States and become a top-tier global player almost overnight.
Mantiqueira, South America’s largest egg company, has vaulted up the global rankings after buying a long-established American producer. The deal lifts the Brazilian firm from tenth to fourth place among the world’s largest egg producers.
Its new US arm acquired Hickman’s Egg Ranch, an Arizona company founded more than eighty years ago, in a transaction reported at around three hundred million dollars. Only three rivals now sit ahead of it worldwide.
For a reader following global food markets, the story is the speed of the climb. A regional egg maker from the Brazilian interior has placed itself among the giants of an American staple in a single move.
How a Brazilian egg producer reached the global top four
The groundwork was laid at the start of 2025. The Batista family’s JBS, the world’s largest meat company, took a stake in Mantiqueira and formed a partnership with its founding Pinto family.
That tie-up gave Mantiqueira the firepower to chase a long-held ambition abroad. The US arm, a joint venture between the two families’ interests, was the vehicle for the American purchase.
The numbers explain the jump. Taking on Hickman’s lifts the group’s laying capacity from around eighteen million hens to roughly twenty-eight million, a rise of more than half.
That places Mantiqueira behind only the United States’ Cal-Maine Foods, Mexico’s Proan and Global Eggs, another business owned by a Brazilian entrepreneur. Three of the world’s four biggest egg producers now have Brazilian or US-Brazilian ownership.
The Brazilian base behind the deal is substantial in its own right. Mantiqueira runs more than a dozen production sites across six Brazilian states and sells around four billion eggs a year, exporting a slice of that to the Middle East, Africa, Asia and South America.
Brazil itself is the world’s fifth-largest egg producer, a scale that has bred unusually large national champions. The company has also been expanding its free-range flocks at home, chasing rising demand for cage-free eggs.
A bargain born of bird flu
The opportunity came out of a crisis. A severe outbreak of avian influenza in 2025 wiped out about six million of Hickman’s laying hens, close to ninety-five percent of its flock.
The damage all but halted the Arizona company’s operations. Selling to a deep-pocketed buyer offered a faster way back than the family could manage alone.
Hickman’s had initially expected a full recovery to take around two years, pushing normality out to 2027. With Mantiqueira’s resources, that timeline has been pulled forward to 2026.
Founder Leandro Pinto told Bloomberg Línea the rebuilding of the acquired operation is now roughly sixty percent complete. He framed the goal plainly: a place among the four or five largest egg producers on the planet, with millions of hens running in the United States.
Why the move matters beyond Brazil
The deal is part of a broader pattern. Brazilian food companies have spent years buying their way into richer markets, turning domestic scale into global reach.
Eggs are the latest staple to follow beef, poultry and pork along that path. JBS itself added eggs as a new protein category only last year, and the US purchase extends that bet into a fresh market.
For American shoppers, the change is mostly invisible at the carton. For investors, it signals that the consolidation of the global protein business now reaches all the way to the breakfast table.
It also underlines a quieter trend. Some of the most powerful names in the world’s food supply are increasingly Brazilian, even when the brand on the shelf is not.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Mantiqueira?
Mantiqueira is South America’s largest egg producer, founded in Brazil and long ranked among the world’s top ten. After buying a US rival, it now stands fourth globally.
What did the company buy in the United States?
Its US arm acquired Hickman’s Egg Ranch, an Arizona producer founded more than eighty years ago, in a deal reported at around three hundred million dollars. The purchase marked Mantiqueira’s entry into the American market.
What role does JBS play?
JBS, the world’s largest meat company, partnered with Mantiqueira’s founding family in early 2025 and added eggs as a new protein line. The US business operates as a joint venture between the two sides.
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