SALISBURY, Md. – Perdue Farms announced today the release of its Fiscal Year 2022 Company Stewardship Report focusing on four areas – Food, Environment, Animal Care, and People and Partners. This new report highlights a second year operating amid a global pandemic, elevating the company’s commitment to alleviating food insecurity, offering consumers new and innovative products, advancing its industry leading-animal care commitment, and creating a more diverse and inclusive workplace.
Released during the company’s 102nd year, the report notes progress made in the key areas of environment, communities and people, and reinforcing the company’s stewardship platform: We believe in responsible food and agriculture®. The report also highlights how the company’s sustainability efforts align with the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
“In the past year, we continued to face some of the toughest challenges in our history – navigating through a global pandemic, inflationary costs, and persistent supply chain issues. Our new reality reinforced the importance of operating in a way that supports the well-being of our associates and consumers who purchase our products, as well as the future of the shared planet we all call home,” said Perdue Farms CEO Randy Day. “We are incredibly thankful for our more than 20,000 associates and 10,000 farmer and ranch partners for their continued dedication and service in fulfilling their essential roles to help keep our nation’s families fed.”
“Since our beginning, Perdue Farms has focused on operating responsibly, rooted in our core values of quality, integrity, teamwork and stewardship. This focus has kept us grounded and guides us in making the best decisions for all our stakeholders and the planet as we continue working toward achieving our vision ‘to be the most trusted name in food and agricultural products’,” said Perdue Farms Chairman Jim Perdue.
The report is available at www.responsiblefoodandagriculture.com formatted to showcase report highlights for convenient web access and in an e-book format.
Report highlights include:
- People and Partners: The company continued to make progress in being a responsible employer, investing in associates’ growth, safety and well-being.
- Perdue Farms was named Forbes’ Best Employer for New Graduates for 2021, reflecting a commitment to provide diverse and rewarding careers to present and future generations.
- Thirty-seven Perdue facilities received Joint Poultry Industry Safety and Health Council recognition for 25 years of continuous exceptional safety performance.
- Hosted third annual company-wide Day of Understanding in conjunction with CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion to encourage tough conversations and bridge cultural divides.
- Food: The company continued a legacy of product innovation with the introduction of new products from its portfolio of brands.
- The PERDUE® brand introduced its “Hungry for Better Chicken” master brand messaging platform which brings to life how everything we do adds up to great-tasting PERDUE® chicken and conveys our obsession with raising better chickens.
- The PERDUE® brand introduced two new products: PERDUE® CHICKEN PLUS® Chicken Tots™ and PERDUE® BBQ Seasoned Pulled Pork Bites highlighting a commitment to new product innovation.
- The NIMAN RANCH® brand introduced the first-of-its-kind culinary-driven 100 percent grass fed and finished beef program, providing exceptional marbling, tender texter and consistent rich flavor.
- Environment: The company made progress toward achieving its 2023 environmental sustainability goals and being good stewards of the environment.
- Perdue Farms improved solid waste diversion by 11 percent as part of its progress toward achieving 2023 sustainability goals.
- Kept more than 250,000 pounds of Styrofoam out of landfills by using Green Cell Foam™ for packaging and shipping Perdue Farms e-commerce website orders.
- National Audubon Society and Panorama Organic Grass-Fed Meats announced largest U.S. market-based regenerative grassland partnership.
- Spot Farms pet treats partnered with Savory Institute to donate 1 percent of annual sales to help expand their mission of regenerative sourcing solutions for meat, dairy, wool and leather.
- Animal Care: The company continued its industry-leading animal care initiatives, commitment to transparency and hosted its sixth Animal Care Summit.
- Invested in Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFID) to study free-range chicken activity and continued to study potential benefits of on-farm hatching to improve chick quality as part of a commitment to continuous improvement.
- Announced eight new animal care initiatives to ensure continuous improvement and compliance to our current programs.
- Communities: Through our Delivering Hope To Our Neighbors® initiative, Perdue Farms and the Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation made a meaningful impact in the communities where the company operates through financial support, community giving, hunger relief and disaster recovery support, associate volunteerism and working with stakeholders to make meaningful change.
- Perdue continued its commitment to alleviate food insecurity with the donation of more than 4.2 million pounds of protein to Feeding America®-affiliated food banks, and food pantries and hunger-relief organizations. Since 2000, Perdue has donated more than 88 million pounds of protein, or the equivalent of 73 million meals, to regional book banks serving its communities and beyond.
- The Perdue Foundation awarded $1.45 million in grants to support 88 non-profit organizations to improve quality of life and build stronger communities in partnership with our neighbors.
About Perdue Farms
We’re a fourth-generation, family owned, U.S. food and agriculture company. Through our belief in responsible food and agriculture, we are empowering consumers, customers, and farmers through trusted choices in products and services.
The premium protein portfolio within our Perdue Foods business, including our flagship PERDUE® brand, Niman Ranch®, Panorama Organic Grass-Fed Meats®, Coleman Natural®, and Yummy®, as well as our pet brands, Spot Farms® and Full Moon®, is available through various channels including retail, foodservice, club stores, and our direct-to-consumer website, PerdueFarms.com.
Perdue AgriBusiness is an international agricultural products and services company.
Now in our company’s second century, our path forward is about getting better, not just bigger. We never use drugs for growth promotion in raising poultry and livestock, and we are actively advancing our animal welfare programs. Our brands are leaders in no-antibiotics-ever chicken, turkey, pork, beef and lamb, and in USDA-certified organic chicken and beef. Learn more at Corporate.PerdueFarms.com.
