The Top 5: Death As Big Business
As in, seriously big.
If you own a small business in deathcare, chances are you’ve already dealt with some of the mightiest entities in the industry. Whether running up against one of the conglomerates as a direct competitor or just in the dispatching of your regular duties in cemeteries, against headstones, via cremations or caskets, many companies already within their gargantuan fold are those that have been familiar to the deathcare pros for years.
Some of the biggest names in the industry are conglomerates, with holdings of thousands of smaller companies. The most powerful really are kind of monstrous. They are massive, and their influence appears ubiquitous.
Here’s a partial – and international – sample:
- Service Corporation International (US)
SCI, The Big Cahuna for number of funeral homes, likely needs no introduction. Founded in 1962, an American company headquartered in Houston TX, Service Corporation International (SCI) provides funeral goods and services and cremation and cemetery services to 43 states, eight provinces in Canada, and Puerto Rico. SCI operates more than 1500 funeral homes and owns 400 cemeteries. 17,022 employees. SCI also owns a 70% share of the Neptune Society.
- OGF (France)
Begun in 1844, OGF has current holdings of more than 580 funeral homes and provides funeral services, urns, cremations, coffins, and cemeteries throughout France under a number of brands (including PFG, Roblot, Henri de Borniol, Dignité Funéraire). The company completes over 110,000 funerals per year and employs 5,266 people.
- Matthews International (US)
Begun 170 years ago and headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Matthews International now has over 250 locations worldwide. Rather than funerals, it is the largest supplier of granite and copper monuments in the US, a section of its business which supplies 75% of the company’s profits. 11,000 employees also develop, design and construct family mausoleums and ash depositories, and MI is one of the leading companies in the manufacture of all types of coffins, commemorative jewelry and cremation urns, as well as advanced cremation equipment, waste-to-energy conversion and emission control systems.
- InvoCare (Australia)
Most funeral services in Australia are managed by one entity: InvoCare Limited holds over 270 funeral homes and 16 cemeteries and crematoria. The Australian public company operates in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore with 1,800 employees. Created in 2001.
- Co-operative Group Ltd. (United Kingdom)
Founded in 1844, Co-operative Group Limited is a British company including food retail and wholesale; e-pharmacy; insurance services; legal services and funeral care. Over 65,000 employees across the UK in over 3,000 locations, with headquarters in Manchester, England. With retail interests in groceries and other areas, it’s a contender for “BEAST” with over 1,000 funeral homes to its credit.
Where’s The Little Guy?
This selection of some of the largest death care industry companies is limited. Due to the scope of this article, we’ve omitted other major players who could as easily have filled any of these slots: Grupo Albia, Funespaña or Ahorn AG; Carriage Services, StoneMor, and the Asian funeral market led by Fu Shou Yuan, TEAR or Nirvana Asia Group …
In a time where it seems like more and more individuals are pushed out of the ring every year, and the family business aspects of this industry seem to be in exit mode, it can be no small comfort to those who handle their work with a personal touch that the biggest number yet is one with unmatchable capacity to inspire on a personal level: 89% of the funeral homes in the US are still family-owned.
And that is an altogether different type of power.
