June 9, 2020

Delmarva companies donate 2.4 million pounds of chicken in Delaware, US

A donation of 2.4 million pounds of chicken has been made by Delmarva Poultry Industry in its home territory of Delaware, the United States.

The donation amounts to 9.4 million meals, Delaware Business Now reported. Delamarva's five chicken companies also donated one million pounds of chicken -- amounting to four million meals -- to food banks and aid organisations.

Recipients of the donations included the Maryland Food Bank, Food Bank of Delaware, Beebe Healthcare, and Foodbank of Southeast Virginia and the Eastern Shore.

"These tractor-trailer chicken sales and donations to food banks represent the Delmarva chicken community's determination to help our region when help is needed most," said Holly Porter, Delmarva Poultry Industry's executive director. "While our farmers and chicken companies do feed the world, during this crisis, we are meeting the needs of Delmarva first."

The chicken companies on Delmarva making the donations and arranging the community sales are Allen Harim, Amick Farms, Mountaire Farms, Perdue Farms and Tyson.

Randy Day, CEO of Perdue Farms, said that people are depending more than ever on food banks given the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Delmarva's chicken companies were also prompted into action as understaffed chicken processing plants, transport companies and grocery stores made it difficult for consumers to find chicken on the shelves.

In March, the companies began arranging events in which the public could buy 10-pound or larger packs of chicken at reduced cost directly from the companies.

- Delaware Business Now