Meat&Poultry -- September 2014 - 69

After 60 years
in business,
Jennings
Premium
Meats remains
competitive

"W

orking in the family meat

locker plant in the Katy Trail commu-

Retail focus

business was the last thing

nity in 1954. The Katy Trail was the

With an eye toward efficiency and a

I wanted to do," Jason Jennings remi-

old line of the now defunct Kansas-

sharp pencil that found where better

nisces. But the president of Jennings

Texas railroad that ran through New

returns for the labor could be found,

Premium Meats in New Franklin, Mo.

Franklin, a small town with a popu-

Jennings moved the business away

later learned that there was much more

lation of 1,200. He had been a small-

from a busy game and custom pro-

of a role for him than washing walls

time farmer and took work where he

cessing bent and put the focus on re-

and scrubbing tubs.

could. In those hand-to-mouth hard

tail and private labeling.

times, he grew the business by serv-

"Today, about 75 percent of our

neering or maybe business manage-

ing farm families by cutting and cur-

business is private labeling for whole-

ment because all I could remember

ing meats.

sale accounts," Jennings says. "We had

"I thought about going into engi-

about working in the meat plant as a

When Oscar's son, Keith Jennings,

to make a decision to give up many of

kid was the clean-up work," he contin-

came on to run the company in 1968,

the smaller accounts because of the

ues. "I went to the Univ. of Missouri to

he strongly emphasized the retail po-

logistics and limitations on available

earn a degree in food science in 1988

tential. Although now retired, Keith

processing space in our facility.

and was going into post-graduate work

still comes into the 15,500-sq.-ft. plant

"We have about 20 larger accounts

and came back to the family business

most days to help out where needed.

that we private-label for and we're con-

to help my dad."

But it's clear that Jason has become

stantly trying to do our best to give

the major domo in running the shop

them quality service," he adds. "Mov-

in the day-to-day operations.

ing away from our original base of cus-

Today, the 49-year-old Jennings
represents the third-generation in his
family and has transformed the enter-

Jason took over the reins in 1988

tom work, game processing and even

prise into a humming business that has

and introduced further-processed

slaughter...which we gave up four years

seen 15 percent to 20 percent volume

meats, including hams, bacons and

ago...was hard to do. But we realized

increases for the past three years.

sausages to the inventory of Jennings

that despite how hard we were working

Premium Meats, now in its 60th year

to do things the right way, we always

of business.

had exposure to things like E.coli and

His grandfather, Oscar "Pop" Jennings, worked in and later bought a

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