Honoring Frank Perdue's Commitment to Quality, Service and Reliability
The Frank Perdue Quality, Service and Reliability (QSR) Award will recognize one Perdue Farms' hourly and one salaried associate who exemplify all aspects of QSR in his or her work style, and have consistently done so throughout their Perdue careers.
After his father's passing in 2005, Jim Perdue, Chairman of Perdue, asked all Perdue associates to recommit themselves to QSR in everything that they do, with a personal goal of the error-free delivery of our products and services to all customers. The Frank Perdue Quality, Service and Reliability Award has been created to recognize and foster commitment to QSR and to the company's founding values.
The award is open to all Perdue Farms' associates in good standing who have not previously won the award. Annually, the Perdue Farms' Executive Leadership Team will select one hourly associate and one salaried associate to receive the award. The Team reserves the right to make no award in any year at its discretion. Individuals who are not selected may be re-nominated in subsequent years.
A trophy featuring Spizzerinktum, the company's first logo depicting a chick under a magnifying glass, commemorates the Perdue commitment to quality. Each Frank Perdue Quality, Service and Reliability Award recipient's name and award year will be engraved on a permanent trophy displayed in a prominent location at company headquarters. Each recipient will receive a smaller replica of the permanent trophy, a $5,000 cash award and recognition within and outside of the company.
Individuals or groups from within the company may submit nominations. Nominations are accepted throughout the year. One hourly and one salaried associate will be nominated by the leadership teams from 20 major Perdue Foods' operations from Perdue AgriBusiness, the Corporate Office, Live Operations and Perdue Transportation Inc. Twelve nominations from that group will then be forwarded to the Executive Leadership Team. A Leadership Team "champion" will be assigned to each of the 12 nominees, and that champion will present their nominees to the Executive Leadership Team for consideration and selection of one hourly and one salaried recipient.
Growing up on the family farm and working in the family poultry business, Frank Perdue learned from his father, Arthur Perdue, the importance of building a reputation for quality products and reliable service.
In 1968, Frank Perdue transformed the poultry industry by introducing his branded chicken, a product distinguished by its superior quality. In the process, he made the PERDUE® brand a household name synonymous with quality. The now-famous advertising slogan, "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken," was inspired by Frank's personal commitment to making sure every product met his high standards.
"You do have to be tough about the things that are important," said Frank. "The thing that is most important to me is quality."
From the very beginning, Perdue was built upon the values of Quality, Integrity, Trust and Teamwork. In the 1980s, Frank Perdue introduced the phrase "Quality, Service and Reliability — QSR" to the company. The commitment to QSR became another way of ensuring that the company achieved the highest levels of quality.
Frank became known for the quality of PERDUE® products. But to Frank, quality of character was every bit as important as product quality. Those who worked with Frank knew him as a plainspoken business leader who expected hard work and results, but, above all, demanded integrity.
