Foster Farms will expand its presence in California, as the company has won the bidding to acquire 19 farms that were formerly part of Zacky Farms.
Nearly one year ago, Zacky Farms, a California-based turkey company, announced it would cease operations, stating, “We have put our best foot forward, but as we struggled in the current state of the industry conditions, it has been impossible for us to continue profitably.”
At the time Zacky Farms announced it would end its operations after having been a family business through four generations. At the time, it was the 18th largest turkey company in the United States, having processed 82.96 million pounds of live turkeys in 2017. The company had earlier faced financial struggles, and it filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in October 2012. It had also obtained a $25 million secured term loan just five months prior to the decision to close was made.
According to a report from The Business Journal, Foster Farms will pay $31 million for the 19 properties. The properties to be purchased are located near Corcoran, Riverdale, Lemoore, Caruthers, Kerman, Fresno, Helendale and Apple Valley.
Other Zacky Farms properties were earlier sold to OK Produce and the Fresno Interstate Business Park.
Court papers did not indicate when the sale of the Zacky Farms properties would be finalized.
Headquartered in Livingston, California, Foster Farms is involved in both broiler and turkey production.
As a turkey producer, Foster Farms currently ranks as the 11th largest company in the United States. In 2018, it slaughtered 218.7 million pounds of live turkeys.
As a broiler producer, Foster Farms also ranks 11th among companies in the United States, having processed 24.57 million pounds of ready-to-cook chicken on a weekly basis in 2018.
Foster Farms in February appointed Dan Huber to become its chief executive officer. He previously served as chief operating officer.
