Get Cooking!
Perry facility to be Perdue Farms’ flagship
Times may change, but there is one question that never does: “What’s for supper?”
Increasingly, the answer is “chicken.”
In the past 30 years, Americans have more than doubled their consumption of this versatile, low-fat, low-cholesterol protein source, climbing from an annual average of 27 pounds per person to nearly 60 pounds in 2004. Fueling the rise has been a move toward healthier eating and the convenience offered by the broad range of innovative products developed by companies such as industry-leader Perdue Farms.
Grilled chicken strips you just heat and serve, dinosaur-shaped nuggets that end up being your kids’ favorite staple, pre-breaded breast tenders, popcorn chicken, and countless other products make home-cooking quick and easy. But these days, it’s the foodservice products — cooked, frozen chicken shipped to restaurants and distributors — that are the real meat-without-potatoes of Perdue Farms’ new facility located in Perry, Ga.
“Fifty cents of every food dollar now goes to food prepared away from home,” says Joe Forsthoffer, Perdue spokesman. “So, we’re responding to that here. We’re already the No. 1 brand of fresh chicken in the Eastern United States. Frozen products for foodservice and retail will help us grow nationally.”
“Thanks to the partnership with the state of Georgia and Georgia Quick Start, we’re moving forward with plans to make the Perry plant one of the world’s leading food processing operations,” says Jim Perdue, Perdue Farms chairman and CEO.
With a forming machine that can make patties or more complicated nugget shapes at a rate of 6,000 pounds of meat per hour and other state-of-the-art equipment, the variety and volume of products produced at this facility is unprecedented, which is why Refrigerated & Frozen Foods magazine recently named it a “Food Plant of the Year."
“We chose Perry because the facility’s capabilities and geographic location fit our strategic growth plans,” says Forsthoffer. “We can better serve our Southeastern retail customers from here, and the facility’s foodservice capability is important because there’s more room for growth in that sector. These products can travel farther than fresh, allowing us to serve customers nationwide.”
In 2004, Perdue purchased the former Cagle’s Inc. processing plant, along with its feed mill and hatchery in Forsyth. The initial $14 million investment in the plant was followed by the $146 million expansion now in progress, adding a cooking plant and doubling the capacity of the existing processing plant at what is becoming one of the most sophisticated facilities in the United States.
By 2009, the company will have brought a total of 1,700 new jobs to the facility. During that time, Quick Start will be working side-by-side with the company, providing workforce development services ranging from pre-employment assistance to specific job skills training and leadership courses.
“I couldn’t survive without Quick Start training,” says Charlotte Truett, Perdue human resources representative. “Turnover is going down in the processing area, thanks to the two-day pre-employment training.”
“At the cook plant, we recognize the value of well-trained associates,” said Director of Operations Richard Rateau at a recent Quick Start training plan signing ceremony.
"We’ve invested money in world-class equipment,” Rateau concluded. “Now we must invest time in world-class training.”
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