When a recall rocks the food industry as much as the deadly listeria outbreak linked to a Boar’s Head factory in Jarratt, Virginia has, the CEO or owners typically get in front of the news and try to instill a sense of calm. But the families behind the 119-year-old deli meat purveyor have been oddly silent.

The lack of response underscores how secretive Boar’s Head has become. A letter about the recall of more than 7 million pounds of ready-to-eat meat products posted on the company website—“This is a dark moment in our company’s history but we intend to use this as an opportunity to enhance food safety programs not just for our company, but for the entire industry.”—is signed simply from “Boar’s Head.” A lone company spokesperson has been cited in media reports and the company refuses to even confirm who the current CEO or chairman is. (It’s likely Robert S. Martin, one of the primary owners).

Now in the aftermath of the deaths of at least 10 people and with nearly 60 hospitalized across some 19 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control, the company that took a century to become the biggest deli meat brand in America is facing an existential threat—with multiple civil lawsuits, and talks of a congressional hearing as well as a Department of Justice investigation that could come with criminal charges. But the warring families who founded Boar’s Head seem more concerned about a series of petty legal battles over the billion-dollar brand.

“They were better at growing listeria than they were at making food for human consumption.”

The Brunckhorsts and the Bischoffs, the two feuding families who own Boar’s Head—and have been fighting over the ownership since 2021—should be at the center of the recall controversy. The company, lawyers say, could be on the hook for hundreds of millions in civil claims and criminal charges, which could come with hefty fines and perhaps even some jail time. (Boar’s Head declined to comment on current and other potential lawsuits as well as its health procedures.)

“They better have a lot of insurance or they're going to be pushed into bankruptcy,” says lawyer Bill Marler, whose Seattle law firm, Marler Clark, has specialized in claims for food recall victims for the past three decades and filed a lawsuit against Boar’s Head on behalf of a survivor. “All of this was completely preventable. They were better at growing listeria than they were at making food for human consumption.”

Founded in Brooklyn and now based on Sarasota, Florida, Boar’s Head, with $1.3 billion in estimated annual revenue, might have been in a strong position to sell itself before the recall. Deli meat deals garner some of the highest multiples in the food industry. Hormel, the $12.1 billion (2023 sales) publicly traded giant whose brands including Jennie-O, Applegate and Spam, has paid as much as 3 times sales on recent acquisitions. Forbes conservatively estimates Boar’s Head is valued at $1 billion. Collectively, the owners are likely worth more, as it’s unclear how much cash the founding families have taken out of the business over the past century.

Boar’s Head is owned by a complex structure of trusts, with restrictions on how stock can be bought........

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