Farms Inc.: Responding to Twenty-First-Century Challenges

Problem:

Which strategy for future business development should be chosen to guarantee company’s growth and success in the future?

Competition:

James Perdue family's company is one of the largest in the US poultry market, selling more than 48 million pounds of distinctly yellow chicken products and nearly 4 million pounds of turkey products each week. Vertically integrated, Perdue Farms sees its birds from the egg to the supermarket meat case. Perdue is expanding its value-added chicken parts and food service products and has established a plant in China through a joint venture. It also processes grain and makes vegetable oils and pet food ingredients.

There are 14 competitors for Perdue Farms Inc. and the biggest ones are ConAgra, Pilgrim’s Pride and Tyson Foods.

Symptoms:

• Industry is heavily regulated and product safety monitoring forces to invest in the company’s production facilities to make them more safe and environment friendly

• Emerging food-service sector with big bargain power of buyers, such as Wal-Mart, Royal Ahold

• Consumer’s demands are moving toward further-processed poultry

• Underdeveloped value of company’s competitive advantage on international markets

Alternatives:

1. Strategy what would focus on maintaining their quality and efficiency in the market along with future plans for extension of product lines

2. Strategy what would focus continues growth in the international market with the focus on new business opportunities

SWOT analysis:

Internal strengths are:

- Perdue is vertically integrated which means that they produce the chickens, they breed, hatch the eggs, they select the growers, build Perdue chicken houses, formulate and manufacture their feed, oversee care and feeding, operate their own processing plants, distribute via truck and marketing. They now also sell what used to be waste, such as the chicken feet that is sold in Asia as a delicacy

- Privately held firm

- Birds are fed organically and not feed additives

- Sell both raw and