Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 1/27/16


Today indeed is a new day for the chicken industry. Big birds the likes of Tyson Foods and Pilgrim’s Pride are waking up to consumer concerns about the “overuse” of antibiotics in animal agriculture, though at a pace slogged in a defensive debate about the scientific rigor behind claims that it is causing antibiotic resistance to human medicine. But for Perdue Farms, based in Salisbury, Md., the mere question was motivation enough — nearly 14 years ago — to begin a journey to producing broilers free of any antibiotic treatments whatsoever.

Perdue’s acquisition last year of Niman Ranch — a few years after its pickup of Coleman Natural — only accelerates and further informs the company’s transition to natural and organic production practices. And while the family-owned company may not culturally feel like the $7 billion juggernaut that it is, Perdue has the wherewithal to scale up beyond the heretofore niche category, largely by way of leveraging its synergistic agribusiness operations to secure mass amounts of organic grain.

Capabilities of this sort will serve the company well as customers such as Subway — the largest quick-service chain in the world with more than 44,000 units — and McDonald’s and many others increasingly pledge to serve cleaner-label meats.   

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