Allen Family Foods

Allen Family Foods is a large U.S. producer and exporter of chicken, headquartered in Seaford, Delaware. Founded in 1919 by Charles C. Allen and Nellie G Allen, as a small local hatchery. Today, Allen Family Foods is the world's 18th largest producer of chicken products, producing 10.5 million pounds (4.8 million kg) of finished products per week. Their network of 500 independent growers house 25 million chickens at any given time. They employ 3,400 people in three states (Delaware, Maryland, and North Carolina), with an annual payroll of $90 million.^[1] Their slogan is "The Quality Chicken People".

Allen's operated a hatchery alone until 1971, when they bought their first processing plant, near Cordova, Maryland. The plant, formerly owned by Esskay, was then leased to Ralston-Purina under the agreement that Allen's would process the chickens and sell them under Ralston's Checkerboard Square label.^[1] Allen's was informed in 1974 that Ralston-Purina would not be renewing their agreement, and Allen's took over the plant entirely. They mostly did custom processing for Holly Farms, until 1980 they started selling chickens under their own label throughout the Northeast. Eventually, they acquired two additional processing plants, and a egg production company. They now also own a rendering plant in Linkwood, Maryland, where chicken byproducts are turned into feed and dog food.

The company filed for bankruptcy in June 2011.^[2]

Facilities

External links

• Allen Family Foods, Inc.
• Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc.
• National Chicken Council

References