Perdue Farms Chairman Jim Perdue formally accepted the 2016 Meatingplace Richard L. Knowlton Innovation Award on Thursday night at the Food Processing Suppliers Association’s annual meeting in Florida. Meatingplace named Jim Perdue and Perdue Farms the 2016 award winner officially at the end of last year.
The award is named after former Hormel CEO Richard Knowlton. The award criteria include exceptional business leadership, innovation, industry leadership and corporate citizenship.
“Dick Knowlton embodied everything our industry leaders should strive for: constant growth, continuous innovation, bold leadership through good times and bad, and a philanthropic commitment to serving the communities in which they operate. On top of all that, he was a class-act and a humanitarian,” said Mark Lefens, founder of Marketing and Technology Group, which publishes Meatingplace, along with sister publications Plate, CarneTec and Hotels.
“Jim Perdue and Perdue Farms are clear leaders in the industry and have set the bar for major processors to follow,” Meatingplace Publisher Bill Kinross said. “Jim has stayed true to his family’s legacy of putting the customer first, more than responding to growing demand for cleaner products. The company’s commitment to transparency, meanwhile, also is helping build consumers’ trust in not only the meat and poultry industry but also in agriculture overall. Meatingplace is proud to award this honor to Jim Perdue and Perdue Farms.”
Perdue Farms began the process of removing antibiotics from production 13 years ago, two-thirds of the chickens it raises are “no antibiotics ever” (NAE), and more than half of the turkeys it raises are as well. The company now has more than 250 NAE items available to foodservice and retail customers. The acquisition of Niman Ranch last year, following the earlier purchase of Coleman Natural Foods, not only expanded the company’s portfolio into red meats but also further informed its antibiotic-reduction efforts and relationships with farmers.
