With more than 45 years in the poultry industry, David Van Hoose has had a significant impact on the advancement of the poultry industry as well as on the companies for which he has worked. Because of his years of contributions to the poultry industry, Van Hoose has been selected for the National Poultry & Food Distributors Association (NPFDA) Poultry Industry Lifetime Achievement Award.
The Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Mr. Van Hoose on Wednesday, January 29, at the Annual NPFDA Awards Reception at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta, 5:30-7:30 p.m. NPFDA has presented the Poultry Industry Lifetime Achievement Award annually since 1991.
Van Hoose was born in Paintsville, Ky. His family moved to Ohio and he grew up on a 105-acre poultry, dairy and grain farm. He graduated from Ohio State University with a degree in agriculture and began his career in the poultry industry.
Van Hoose worked for Perdue Farms for seven years. He began as a broiler technician, moved to sales, then to plant manager at Accomac, Va. He later became a grow-out manager.
He then worked in Maine for Hillcrest as general manager, then in Arkansas with Valmac Industries as Dardanelle plant manager before becoming the complex manager .
He worked in Mississippi at B.C. Rogers as general manager. Van Hoose also worked for Mountaire Farms, first as complex manager and then as vice president. He worked with Cargill as general manager for its Delaware poultry operations. While in Delaware, he served as president of the Delmarva Poultry Industry for one year.
Van Hoose started working for Pilgrim's in 1988. He began as executive president over processing in 1990 and was promoted to general manager of Pilgrim's Mexican operations. In 1995, he became president and general manager of those operations. In 1998, he relocated to Texas where Pilgrim's was second in volume in Mexico and had distribution through most of the country and employed approximately 4,000 people.
Van Hoose was promoted to president, CEO and chief operating officer of Pilgrim's. Pilgrim's acquired WLR and a further-processing plant in Waco, Texas, during his tenure. He retired from Pilgrim's in 2003.
He went to work for Case Foods in September 2003 as president and chief operating officer until 2009. He was asked to come back to Case Foods in 2011, when he again worked as president and chief operating officer until February 2012. Van Hoose still holds a seat on the Case Foods board.
"David has been instrumental in the success and growth of Case Farms for over 10 years," said Kevin Phillips, president and chief operating officer of Case Farms. "He has provided exceptional leadership to our management team and has been a true mentor to me. He is not only a tremendous leader but a remarkable gentleman. Case Farms would not be the company it is today if not for him. He is absolutely worthy of this award."
Mike Popowycz, vice chairman and chief financial offier of Case Farms, added "David is an outstanding leader and individual. His knowledge of the poultry industry is unsurpassed. David made all the managers at Case Farms better than we thought we could be. He has the ability to bring out the best in each individual and create a winning team concept. David helped to make Case Farms the successful company it is today. He is a true friend that is deserving of this award."
Van Hoose and his wife, Charlotte, currently live in Georgetown, S.C. They have five children and 10 grandchildren.
