New premium chicken integrator, Pure Prairie Farms, continued its path toward an anticipated production start-up this July when it announced key additions to its leadership team. Pure Prairie Farms named Bob Wolfe as chief operating officer, Santosh Venkataramanaapa as vice president of food safety, quality and regulatory processes and David Stanz as director of finance. Each professional brings life-long chicken and food industry experience to the table.
"Though a young company, we are committed to acting like a larger, fully integrated chicken producer," said Brian Roelofs, chief executive officer and president for Pure Prairie Farms. "To realize our vision for the future, we knew we had to build a rock-solid foundation, today. That meant bringing the best and brightest aboard now to help get us there from the start," added Roelofs.
According to the CEO, Pure Prairie Farms' new chief operating officer, Bob Wolfe, started his career at the ground level in live receiving for Zacky Farms. Wolfe had since learned his way to the top through hands-on experience with nearly every aspect of poultry production.
"Not only do we feel Bob is an excellent fit for our culture, we believe he also brings strong industry breadth, depth and knowledge to our team. As a person and professional, Bob is everything we wanted for the role and more," said Roelofs. Wolfe's career experience had included key roles in sustainability, general management and business development at past companies like Draper Valley, AgriStats, Petaluma Poultry, Pitman Farms and Foster Farms.
Venkataramanaapa, Pure Prairie Farms' newly appointed vice president of food safety, quality and regulatory processes, came to Pure Prairie Farms from Reno, Nevada-based Armand Agra, where he served as senior director of global FSQA and regulatory compliance, and as senior manager of FSQA for prepared foods with Tyson, prior to that. Venkataramanaapa holds master of science degrees in food science and microbiology from Chapman University in Orange County, CA, and Bangalore University, India, respectively.
Rounding-out the trio of additions is David Stanz, director of finance for Pure Prairie Farms, who had previously worked in agriculture for over 20 years, most recently with Minnesota-based Sparboe Farms and prior to that, GNP Company. Since 2018, Stanz had played a key role on the Pure Prairie Farms acquisition team, and his appointment boosts analytical capabilities for leadership and investors, alike, as the company evolves to best leverage new opportunities in a competitive industry.
Additionally, since its purchase of a state-of-the-art processing plant at the end of 2021, Pure Prairie Farms has worked to ensure the operational integrity of each plant area and executed logistical improvements with the purchase of underutilized land surrounding the facility to more easily scale-up to accommodate growth. The new leadership team additions add strategic bench strength to its exceptional operational position, a further boon for the company's future success.
