The fourth-largest broiler producer in the U.S., Perdue Foods, produced an estimated 64.42 million pounds of chicken meat on a weekly basis in 2018, according to WATT PoultryUSA's Top Poultry Companies latest rankings, representing a 2.5 percent increase over 2017.
The company installed a controlled atmosphere stunning (CAS) system at its Milford, Delaware, plant in February 2018, as part of a larger $15 million investment to change live bird handling at the facility. It intends to gradually convert the rest of its plants to CAS, with the next phase planned for 2019.
Continuing the trend of investments, Perdue also announced in April 2018 that it would spend $42 million to expand cooking operations at its Perry, Georgia, facility. To serve distribution for its no antibiotics ever (NAE) and organic chicken products, the company opened a $5 million facility in September 2018.
The company also committed to following its “2022 Goals” in April 2018 to reduce greenhouse gasses, water use and solid waste.
