February 14, 2007

 

Change is a constant in the poultry industry, says Perdue Farms

 

 

Poultry companies are no longer just producing chicken and turkey, said Jim Perdue, chairman of Perdue Farms.

 

Instead, they are morphing more into food companies marketing innovative, consumer- and customer-driven solutions, Perdue noted. 

 

As change is the only constant in the industry, people who abhor change and challenges should not be in the poultry industry, he added. 

 

Perdue was speaking at the US Poultry & Egg Association's College Student Career Programme held in conjunction with the International Poultry Expo in Atlanta recently.

 

Perdue explained how the company's business model changed five times during a 50-year time span.

 

In those 50 years, the broiler industry emerged, the integrated poultry company was introduced and chicken changed from agricultural commodity to branded product. This is a dizzying rate of change, by any standard, he said.

 

The future growth of the industry would be in innovative products to reflect changing consumer preferences, Perdue declared.

 

Innovation in the industry has helped shorten the time required to prepare a meal from 45 minutes to just 15 minutes, Perdue said.

 

To be successful, the poultry industry must put its products where consumers are and make them available when they want them, he noted. 

 

This year's International Feed Expo in Atlanta attracted more visitors than ever. For the first time the International Feed Expo (IFE) joined the regular annual International Poultry Exposition (IPE) in Atlanta, Georgia. Total attendance was close to 20,000 visitors of which a-fifth came from outside the USA.

 

Foreign visitors mainly came from Canada and Mexico while US visitors mainly came from the state of Georgia and Illinois.