Say the words “eat fresh” or mention the name “Jared” and you automatically think of SUBWAY® restaurants, now the second largest chain of restaurants in the world behind only Yum! Brands with more than 35,000 locations worldwide. What you probably don’t think of is West Liberty Foods, but you should.
West Liberty Foods, headquartered in West Liberty, Iowa, was formed out of necessity in 1996 by a group of local turkey producers. The contract producers were facing the possibility of shutdown after Louis Rich announced the closing of its West Liberty facility, leaving nearly 4 million heavy turkey toms without a home. The producers formed a cooperative, bought the Louis Rich facility and began providing turkey meat on contract for Louis Rich.
“We decided to go out on our own in August and had to be operational within a short time,” said Paul Hill, Chairman of the Board and turkey producer for West Liberty Foods. “We took over the plant on December 27, 1996, and had the plant up and running by January 13, 1997.”
The cooperative took significant risk in continuing to raise turkeys during this time of uncertainty and in investing in the closing facility and its employees. The move turned out to be a good one despite some early growing pains.
“1997 turned out to be one of the worst years in history for turkey production,” Hill commented. “We had an oversupply of birds in the market and increasing input costs.”
What turned momentum around for West Liberty Foods was when Subway approached the cooperative asking them to provide turkey meat directly to Subway’s distribution centers. Today, West Liberty Foods provides sliced meats to a majority of the Subway locations.
In addition to Subway, West Liberty Foods processes, slices, seasons and packages private-label meats for several well-known national retailers and grocery chains. This success has allowed West Liberty Foods to open a new facility in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, and in 2006 a further-processing facility in Tremonton, Utah, expanding beyond its traditional turkey products.
“We decided to not just be a turkey company but instead be a protein company specializing in slicing,” said Ed Garrett, C.E.O. of West Liberty Foods. “We have to be in all segments in order to protect ourselves from market swings.”
Today, West Liberty Foods harvests 5.4 million head of turkey accounting for only 30 – 40% of its overall business. With the expansion beyond its core business, West Liberty Foods had the opportunity to create some of the most innovative facilities for food safety in the world. Their Mt. Pleasant and Tremonton locations were the first facilities to ever receive a patent for process flow and food safety. Each slicing line is operated as its own plant, altering the historic practice of slicing together in one large room. Each separate room has its own independent drains, water lines, air filters and entrances and exits.
“The Mt. Pleasant facility enhanced food safety 15 to 20 percent from where the industry was during that time,” said Gerald Lessard, Vice President and COO. “That was really the stepping stones for West Liberty Foods that allowed us to continue to advance and caused others in the industry to take a look at our facility and follow suit.”
West Liberty Foods hopes that continued growth will lead to building another chicken cooking plant.
“We are seeing significant growth in fully prepared foods and smaller serving sizes,” commented Garrett. “Healthy, convenient options will be the next wave, especially at places like convenience stores.”
Expect West Liberty Foods to remain on the leading edge of product development for these growing demands. The cooperative of farmers who originally started West Liberty Foods remains a vital part of the relationships between feeder, producer, processor and consumer. Feed Energy is proud to be a part of this relationship as well.
“Feed Energy has been a great partner and supporter of our industry,” commented Hill. “Feed Energy believes it is more than profit, it is about the people, a better environment and in being a better steward in everything they do."
Source: West Liberty Foods
