MEAT+POULTRY - January 2015 - 86

CEO SERIES

Kerry Doughty's parents
(Richard and Jeri) taught him
the value of treating people
with respect. "My Dad really
taught me everything I know
about management. 'Work
hard and treat people like
you want to be treated
yourself,'" he always told
his son. (Photo courtesy of
Butterball)

86

sideshows at Butterball. It's all of us in this
together and working together."

STAYING SAFE
He points to several areas that are most
important to him and Butterball. "Food safety
- food safety is paramount. That's the most
important thing we have. If our food isn't safe,
and we're not making sure it's safe, we really
have nothing at all. Then there's associate
safety - the safety of our employees. We rely
very much on input from our employees about
plant safety or any problems," he says.
The immigration problem in the United
States is also a big concern to Doughty, as well
as to other companies in the poultry and meat
industry. And animal care and well-being are
critical. "We need to take care of our animals,"
he says. "Our company leads the way in animal
well-being. We do this by training and retraining
our associates, and they're accountable for the
well-being of the birds. The birds are ethically
raised for there's no tolerance for mistreatment
of our birds. There's a lot of noise in this area
right now, especially from the animal-welfare
groups. But we're the people on the line. We're
in the middle, and we want to treat our animals
humanely and right."
Labor is a big issue, as well. "We're
completely dependent on labor - to get enough
labor, associates, to do what we need to do
in order to succeed as a company," he adds.
"What we really need as far as immigration
is concerned is clarification and consistency
from the government in its immigration policy.
Unfortunately, it's been turned into a political
process. There is a real need for immigration
reform. The main thing is, we need to know

MEAT+ POULTRY | 01.15 | www.meatpoultry.com

how things will work, on a consistent basis,
without changes all the time."
Doughty doesn't think the increasing
emphasis on local agriculture threatens large
companies like his or others. "We have plants
in several areas of the country," he says. "But
the main thing is, 98 percent of our production
comes from family farmers. That's the way it
is at Butterball and in the industry as a whole.
And that's the way we want it to be."
Since Doughty has been at Butterball, the
turkey business has changed drastically, moving
from what was a whole-bird based operation
to more in the way of turkey products. The
company produces about 1.3 billion lbs. of
turkey, about 20 percent, of the American
market. "We raise whole birds for holiday
retail, which average about 16 lbs. per bird,
with production of 22 million a year. "We also
produce meat birds, which average between
45 and 47 lbs.," he says. "They're deboned for
further processing. Sixteen-million of those are
produced in a year."
Large numbers of turkeys are produced at
Christmas, as well, which amounts to about 10
to 15 percent of the yearly production. And
while hams are probably the favorite for Easter,
Doughty says there are a lot fresh turkeys
consumed during the Easter holiday.
"But the big change is the huge growth in
turkey production and consumption all year
round, as opposed to the holidays," Doughty
points out. "Turkey has really become an
everyday product."
He says ground turkey, turkey bacon, turkey
sausage, turkey burgers and turkey lunch meat
have exploded in growth. "They're hot," he
says. Turkey bacon has been growing between
5 and 6 percent a year. "There's such a growth
in bacon period, and bacon is in everything now
- there's even dessert bacon," he says laughing.
"Just in the bacon, we're seeing strong
double-digit increases. It's the taste, health and
nutrition," he notes. "We're seeing a 12 percent
annual growth in turkey sausage."
Doughty says the ground beef supply is
limited and expensive. However, turkey is 100
percent interchangeable with beef across all menu
items. He estimates 30 percent of the American
population buys 70 percent of turkey products.
For many people, turkey is on their menus five
or six days a week. On the burger front, Doughty
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