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Perdue is moving No Antibiotics Ever into mainstream grocery categories and foodservice menu items with the rapid transition of its entire frozen, refrigerated and fresh products.
Perdue made the announcement during the 2016 Annual Meat Conference in Nashville. Perdue operates facilities in Delaware. The company is based in Salisbury, MD.
The transition, taking place now, will make Perdue the first major brand to convert all of its value-added chicken products to No Antibiotics Ever.
The conversion at retail includes all Perdue brand heat-and-eat and pre-seasoned chicken items, such as retail nuggets, strips and grilled strips. Products will hit shelves immediately, with the conversion continuing through May. Perdue is distributing the products coast-to-coast.
The conversion means that more than 150 menu items are now available to independent operators through foodservice distributors across the country.
The foodservice turkey items join a complete line of No Antibiotics Ever menu-ready chicken distributed under the Perdue, Harvestland and other foodservice brands.
Two-thirds of the company’s chickens are now raised without any antibiotics of any kind, up from 50 percent six months ago. And although raising turkey without antibiotics is more difficult than chicken, Perdue has nonetheless converted more than half of its turkey raising to No Antibiotics Ever.
“The No Antibiotics Ever distinction is very important to us,” said Chairman Jim Perdue. “That claim is transparent and absolutely clear to consumers: no antibiotics of any kind, at any time. Consumers have a number of concerns around antibiotic use, and they deserve products that address all those concerns with a promise they can trust. That’s why we back up the No Antibiotics Ever claim on Perdue consumer chicken products with a USDA Process Verified Program.”
In 2014, Perdue became the first major chicken company to eliminate the routine use of all human antibiotics from every production step, proving that producers did not need to rely on antibiotics to raise healthy chickens, the company noted.
The company eliminated antibiotic use for growth promotion in 2007.
“Other large companies may have taken antibiotics out of a small segment of their total production, but we’re changing our production practices across the company,” said Bruce Stewart-Brown, DVM, Perdue’s senior vice president of food safety, quality and live production. Perdue is raising No Antibiotics Ever chickens at nine of its processing complexes.
“We don’t know of any other company successfully raising that many chickens without any antibiotics at all,” said Stewart-Brown. “We started our journey away from antibiotics 12 years ago, and know it takes time to do it right. It’s not just taking antibiotics out; it’s learning how to raise healthy birds and prevent disease without antibiotics. Of course, should a flock get sick and require an antibiotic, we will treat the flock but it won’t be sold as NAE.”
Converting its entire foodservice turkey line to No Antibiotics Ever is the company’s latest step toward helping restaurant operators meet consumer demand for menu items featuring meat raised without antibiotics.
“When it comes to antibiotic use, we find that consumers have many of the same concerns when they dine out as they do when they shop for their families,” said Doug Wickman, Perdue’s vice-president of foodservice sales and marketing.
