MEAT+POULTRY - January 2015 - 84

CEO SERIES

In 1985, during his tenure
with Wilson Foodservice,
Kerry Doughty (right) and
Jim Middleton posed during
a Kraft Foodservice Buying
Show. (Photo courtesy of
Butterball)

He believes his upbringing by his family
has a lot to do with how he conducts his life
- whether professional or other aspects. "I'm
from the Midwest, the oldest of six kids. I had
paper routes and jobs throughout high school.
I knew I would always have to work hard, no
matter what I did," he says.
Doughty came up in the industry the
long way, eventually working for Fast Food
Merchandising, which was part of Hardee's.
"Hardee's was like a three-legged stool - we
had retail, distribution to restaurants for
foodservice and regular distribution," Doughty
says. In 1998, the manufacturing division of
Hardee's was bought by Perdue. Doughty
worked at Perdue for 10 years, running the
foodservice division. In a way, it's not surprising
at all that he eventually moved to Butterball.

"A lot of people who worked at Perdue
came to Butterball," he says. Seven years ago,
Doughty, at Perdue at the time, was offered
the executive vice president of sales position
at Butterball. Since then, the ownership
of the company reorganized. Seaboard
became one of the company owners, and
Rod Brenneman took over as president and
CEO of Butterball. "Rod mentored me and
put the executive committee together at the
company," Doughty notes.
Running a company as big as Butterball
poses great challenges and Doughty is grateful
for all the help he gets. "I have 6,000 associates
companywide. I think the secret to the success
in our company is having a 'people style,'"
he says. "I like to associate with people, and
working with other people, especially my
leadership and management team, is the
reason a company like ours can succeed. My
Dad really taught me everything I know about
management - 'work hard and treat people like
you want to be treated yourself', he would say."

FAMILY-FOCUSED
Doughty is proud to talk about his family, his
background and how he came up in business.
"My Dad passed away nine years ago, and
he was my biggest hero," he says. "But I'm
not from high finance. I depend a lot on my
management team, we all work hard, and it is a
real team effort. There are no castles or private

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