Benny Bishop will retire on March 28 as chief operating officer of Peco Foods.
Bishop has served in his current senior management position at Peco Foods since 2009, coinciding with a period of unprecedented growth and expansion for Peco, which consistently ranks among the nation’s leading poultry companies.
“Benny Bishop originally joined our management team in 2006 as our special projects manager. He brought a wealth of industry experience and keen market insights to our company at the perfect time,” said Peco Foods CEO Hickman. “We have been extremely fortunate to have him on board during a key era in Peco’s 80-plus year history, and we are very pleased that Benny, his wife Charlotte, and their family will enjoy his well-deserved retirement.”
Benny Bishop (Peco Foods)
Describing Bishop as an astute manager with valuable skill sets in a complex and dynamic marketplace, Hickman called Bishop one of the poultry industry’s leading innovators. Among his many contributions to Peco are corporate advancements in animal well-being and care, processing yields, and a leading-edge role in customized product development for clients around the world.
With more than 6,000 team members in Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi, Peco supplies a broad range of products and services to national restaurant chains, regional food service distributors, retail grocers and international accounts.
“Only rarely does a company have the chance to recruit a seasoned veteran with the diverse portfolio of experience Benny built before he came on board at Peco 13 years ago,” Mark Hickman said in making the announcement. “Benny is well respected in the global protein world, and all of us on the Peco team join in congratulating him as he retires.”
A native of Albertville, Alabama, and a graduate of Jacksonville State University, Bishop began his career with Gold Kist Poultry, then spent six years with ConAgra Poultry and 14 years with Southland Broilers. In 1992 he joined Wayne Farms as a complex manager and later became area manager for north Alabama in 2001. Before joining the Peco team in 2006, he was general manager of catfish operations for American Pride Seafoods/Southern Pride Catfish. He has held a number of leadership positions in the industry and is a valued mentor to generations of poultry professionals.