Perdue Farms is a major chicken processing company based in Salisbury, Maryland, United States with annual sales in excess of $4.6B.
The leading poultry producer in the northeast United States and the second largest across the nation, Perdue Farms Inc. sells chicken and turkey products through retail venues and to foodservice companies in the United States and in more than 30 countries worldwide. A vertically integrated business, Perdue processes grain and soybeans for feed, breeds and raises the poultry, processes the meat, and maintains a fleet of trucks for delivery of its products to market. Perdue Farms celebrated its 75th anniversary as a family-run business in 1995.
Perdue Farms primarily produces poultry products (chicken and Turkey) for consumption through Retail, Foodservice and International markets. It also has a Grain and Oilseed business.
Perdue is privately held and family owned. Chairman Jim Perdue is the third generation Perdue to lead the company. Our company is guided by a family commitment to quality that goes back to our founding in 1920.
Our corporate office in Salisbury, Md., is across the street from the original Perdue family farm, where our very first chickens were raised. The farm is a constant reminder of our company's heritage – and the values upon which our business was founded.
Those values – quality, integrity, trust and teamwork – are shared by the more than 20,000 associates who work at Perdue facilities throughout the eastern half of the U.S. and around the globe, and the 2,200 farm families who raise and care for our chickens and turkeys.
Our family and farm tradition is always in our hearts, but our innovative spirit defines our future. We embrace change, pursue continuous improvement and invest in the technologies and opportunities that will drive our business forward.
The company was founded in 1920 by Arthur Perdue with his wife, Pearl Perdue, who had been keeping a small flock of chickens. The company started out selling eggs, then in 1925, Perdue built the company's first hatchery, and began selling layer chicks to farmers instead of only eggs for human consumption.His son Frank Perdue joined the company in 1939 at age 19 after dropping out of college. In the 1940s, the company made a transition from selling layer chicks to broiler chickens.
Faced with three years of almost level sales in the early 1990s, Jim Perdue implemented a five-year plan that called for a 15 percent growth rate a year. The company pursued this ambitious goal by expanding its markets both domestically and internationally, with a continuing emphasis on vertical integration. At the time, growth was the only way to survive the intense industry consolidation. In 1960, there were 360 poultry processors in the United States; by 1985, that number had dropped to 125. By 1997, approximately 50 processors remained, with no end to the consolidation in sight, according to analysts.
Through aggressive expansion in the mid-1990s, Perdue met its goal. The company moved into markets in the South and Midwest and built or acquired local granaries, hatcheries, and processing plants to cut down on transportation costs. In 1992 the company opened a new processing plant in Dillon, South Carolina. The following year, the company added a feedmill, a hatchery, an egg warehouse, and a grain storage silo. Perdue also acquired Shiloh Grain and the grain trading assets of Fred Webb, Inc. In 1994 the company began construction of a broiler/roaster complex in Kentucky and expanded its sales into Florida. The Kentucky complex was intended to support expansion into Michigan, Kentucky, and Missouri markets, which Perdue entered in 1996.
International expansion was also an important part of the company's five-year plan. In 1995 Perdue acquired Showell Farms, boosting Perdue's international sales to ten percent of total sales in 1996. The company expanded into Japan in 1996 by recruiting food wholesaler Toshoku Ltd. to sell its precooked chickens. International tastes provided Perdue with complementary markets. Chicken feet, which Perdue once sold to livestock feed producers, were now exported to China, where they were considered a delicacy and commanded top dollar. Moreover, one of the company's largest new markets, Russia, preferred dark meat, as opposed to U.S. markets, which preferred white meat.
Although Perdue's aggressive expansion succeeded in doubling the company's revenues within five years, earnings did not follow suit. The company reported a loss in 1996; in fact, many poultry processors suffered that year, and with profit margins of only one or two cents per pound of its chicken, Perdue saw even that disappear when the Midwest experienced very small harvests and grain prices rose. Management remained optimistic, however, expecting the company to enjoy a profit in 1997. As for surviving the continuing consolidation in the industry, Perdue Farms stood in a good position to thrive: poultry sales were rising throughout the United States and internationally; Perdue boasted prime locations for its processing facilities; and the company's vertical integration helped it control costs.
Statistics:
Private Company
Incorporated: 1920
Employees: 19,000
Sales: $2.1 billion (1996 est.)
SICs: 2015 Poultry Slaughtering & Processing; 2048 Prepared Feeds, Not Elsewhere Classified; 2075 Soybean Oil Mills
Jim Perdue
Chief Executive Officer
Ilene Burza
Chief Financial Officer
Thomas E Mahn
Treasurer
James A Perdue*
President*
Address:
P.O. Box 1537
Salisbury, Maryland 21802
U.S.A.
The leading poultry producer in the northeast United States and the second largest across the nation, Perdue Farms Inc. sells chicken and turkey products through retail venues and to foodservice companies in the United States and in more than 30 countries worldwide. A vertically integrated business, Perdue processes grain and soybeans for feed, breeds and raises the poultry, processes the meat, and maintains a fleet of trucks for delivery of its products to market. Perdue Farms celebrated its 75th anniversary as a family-run business in 1995.
Perdue Farms primarily produces poultry products (chicken and Turkey) for consumption through Retail, Foodservice and International markets. It also has a Grain and Oilseed business.
Perdue is privately held and family owned. Chairman Jim Perdue is the third generation Perdue to lead the company. Our company is guided by a family commitment to quality that goes back to our founding in 1920.
Our corporate office in Salisbury, Md., is across the street from the original Perdue family farm, where our very first chickens were raised. The farm is a constant reminder of our company's heritage – and the values upon which our business was founded.
Those values – quality, integrity, trust and teamwork – are shared by the more than 20,000 associates who work at Perdue facilities throughout the eastern half of the U.S. and around the globe, and the 2,200 farm families who raise and care for our chickens and turkeys.
Our family and farm tradition is always in our hearts, but our innovative spirit defines our future. We embrace change, pursue continuous improvement and invest in the technologies and opportunities that will drive our business forward.
The company was founded in 1920 by Arthur Perdue with his wife, Pearl Perdue, who had been keeping a small flock of chickens. The company started out selling eggs, then in 1925, Perdue built the company's first hatchery, and began selling layer chicks to farmers instead of only eggs for human consumption.His son Frank Perdue joined the company in 1939 at age 19 after dropping out of college. In the 1940s, the company made a transition from selling layer chicks to broiler chickens.
Faced with three years of almost level sales in the early 1990s, Jim Perdue implemented a five-year plan that called for a 15 percent growth rate a year. The company pursued this ambitious goal by expanding its markets both domestically and internationally, with a continuing emphasis on vertical integration. At the time, growth was the only way to survive the intense industry consolidation. In 1960, there were 360 poultry processors in the United States; by 1985, that number had dropped to 125. By 1997, approximately 50 processors remained, with no end to the consolidation in sight, according to analysts.
Through aggressive expansion in the mid-1990s, Perdue met its goal. The company moved into markets in the South and Midwest and built or acquired local granaries, hatcheries, and processing plants to cut down on transportation costs. In 1992 the company opened a new processing plant in Dillon, South Carolina. The following year, the company added a feedmill, a hatchery, an egg warehouse, and a grain storage silo. Perdue also acquired Shiloh Grain and the grain trading assets of Fred Webb, Inc. In 1994 the company began construction of a broiler/roaster complex in Kentucky and expanded its sales into Florida. The Kentucky complex was intended to support expansion into Michigan, Kentucky, and Missouri markets, which Perdue entered in 1996.
International expansion was also an important part of the company's five-year plan. In 1995 Perdue acquired Showell Farms, boosting Perdue's international sales to ten percent of total sales in 1996. The company expanded into Japan in 1996 by recruiting food wholesaler Toshoku Ltd. to sell its precooked chickens. International tastes provided Perdue with complementary markets. Chicken feet, which Perdue once sold to livestock feed producers, were now exported to China, where they were considered a delicacy and commanded top dollar. Moreover, one of the company's largest new markets, Russia, preferred dark meat, as opposed to U.S. markets, which preferred white meat.
Although Perdue's aggressive expansion succeeded in doubling the company's revenues within five years, earnings did not follow suit. The company reported a loss in 1996; in fact, many poultry processors suffered that year, and with profit margins of only one or two cents per pound of its chicken, Perdue saw even that disappear when the Midwest experienced very small harvests and grain prices rose. Management remained optimistic, however, expecting the company to enjoy a profit in 1997. As for surviving the continuing consolidation in the industry, Perdue Farms stood in a good position to thrive: poultry sales were rising throughout the United States and internationally; Perdue boasted prime locations for its processing facilities; and the company's vertical integration helped it control costs.
Statistics:
Private Company
Incorporated: 1920
Employees: 19,000
Sales: $2.1 billion (1996 est.)
SICs: 2015 Poultry Slaughtering & Processing; 2048 Prepared Feeds, Not Elsewhere Classified; 2075 Soybean Oil Mills
Jim Perdue
Chief Executive Officer
Ilene Burza
Chief Financial Officer
Thomas E Mahn
Treasurer
James A Perdue*
President*
Address:
P.O. Box 1537
Salisbury, Maryland 21802
U.S.A.