Two generations of the Perdue family work in the company today, and the family remains dedicated to keeping Perdue Farms a family-owned, values-driven business. Chairman Jim Perdue represents the third generation to lead the company, and five members of the next generation are also actively involved in the business.
Chairman, Perdue Farms
VP of E-Commerce, Perdue Farms
SVP PPMC & Emerging Brands
VP, Supply Chain Transformation
VP, Stakeholder Partnerships, Perdue AgriBusiness
Director of Environmental Sustainability
Perdue Farms Shines Spotlight On Commitment To No Antibiotics Ever
At a pivotal time when Perdue Farms’ top competitors went back to using preventative antibiotics, the company demonstrated its steadfast commitment to using only the highest quality egetarian diet with no animal by-products or antibiotics ever.
To build awareness of its unwavering No Antibiotics Ever commitment, the company launched a new consumer marketing campaign with Jim, Chris and Ryan Perdue. The spot highlights the bold steps Perdue continues to take to reinforce its mission to earn and keep the trust of consumers at this critical point in time. Perdue Farms also issued an open letter from Jim Perdue in The Wall Street Journal that speaks to why the company will continue to say no to shortcuts, hormones, steroids, and antibiotics.
In FY23, Perdue Farms was named one of the most-trustworthy companies in America by Newsweek based on trust amongst consumers, associates and investors. Perdue ranked 16th out of 45 food and beverage companies.
“We take great pride in providing our customers and consumers with premium food and agricultural products. The dedication of our associates and farming partners enables everything we do. Now in our second century, we remain committed to these important stakeholders.” – Jim Perdue, Chairman
Fast Company recognized the company’s premium natural meat brand among the World’s Most Innovative Companies based on its leadership to ensure its livestock are humanely treated through advocacy on California’s Proposition 12, the nation’s strongest law to improve farm animal welfare, and creating a business model that builds opportunities for small, sustainable family farms.
Perdue AgriBusiness, one of the nation’s largest exporters of grain, is the recipient of the Port of Virginia Shipper of the Year Award. For decades, Perdue Foods and Perdue AgriBusiness has used the Port to export large volumes of poultry, soybeans and other products. Perdue AgriBusiness is growing its exports through the Port, and, in fact, moving more than 72 million bushels of soybeans and soymeal in containers through the operation annually.
In Perdue AgriBusiness, we are investing in new state-of-the-art extractors at our oilseed crushing facilities in Chesapeake, Va., and Salisbury, Md., where soybean oil is extracted from bean flakes to produce soybean meal and crude soy oil. We anticipate start-up in Chesapeake in fall 2023 and in Salisbury in summer 2024.
We’re also investing in the expansion of our soybean oil refinery facility in Salisbury, Md., to increase production by 30 percent to meet customer demand. Concurrently, we are expanding oil refining capacity, increasing oil storage and upgrading rail and truck transportation capacity and efficiency.
In Bowersville, Ga., we are doubling our organic oil refinery capacity through capital investments to reduce reliance on tolling providers and improve economies of scale. Once the expansion project is completed, Bowersville will be the largest U.S. organic refinery, and support our sustainability efforts.
In Perdue Foods, we invested more than $30 million in auto-deboning technology at our harvest operations in Cromwell, Ky., Rockingham, N.C., and Georgetown, Del.
In Sioux City, Iowa, we invested $48 million to expand our case-ready pork operations and increase deboning capacity to meet customer demand and improve efficiency.
In 2022, the Niman Ranch Next Generation Foundation invested more than $170,000 in 46 young farmers and rural agriculture leaders. The philanthropic arm of Niman Ranch, the Foundation has distributed more than $1.2 million to fund 406 scholarships and grants since the Foundation’s inception in 2006.
The Foundation also launched two new awards programs to provide addi-tional opportunities for young farmers.
The Perdue family farmhouse, located across the street from our headquarters in Salisbury, Md., is a daily reminder to all of us at Perdue of the tenants of quality, integrity, hard work and trust upon which the business was built.
The farmhouse was built in 1917 by company founder Arthur Perdue. Three years later, he and his wife, Pearl Parsons Perdue, began a small poultry operation on its grounds in 1920. Their only child, son Franklin Parsons Perdue, was born in the home in May of that year.
The farmhouse underwent a restoration in 2007, revealing the original wood-side exterior, interior hardwood, woodwork, and fireplaces. The work also uncovered a wood shingle hidden in one of the walls, signed and dated “September 1917” by Arthur Perdue.
In 2017, the Perdue family farmhouse was designated a Maryland Century Farm and is included on the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties. The home retains its original floor plan and many original architectural features. Family photos, furnishings and memorabilia are on display throughout the home along with some family narrated videos.
