Perdue Farms’ No Antibiotics Ever™ (NAE) poultry line is moving into mainstream grocery and foodservice categories, while also kicking in the transition that will make it the first major brand to convert all of its value-added chicken products to NAE.
“In the retail sector, we’re converting all branded refrigerated and frozen convenience products to No Antibiotics Ever™, bringing the total number of products with the claim to more than 200,” Eric Christianson, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Innovation, said when explaining the scale of Perdue’s latest advancement, according to a press release. “In just a few months, we will take NAE mainstream, moving it beyond select fresh items and niche brands and making Perdue® No Antibiotics Ever™ chicken products available everywhere consumers shop for chicken in the grocery store.”
To achieve this, the company is amidst a rapid the rapid transition of its entire frozen, refrigerated, and fresh value-added chicken products, as well as all of its foodservice turkey items.
“The combination of converting our everyday, go-to Perdue® products to No Antibiotics Ever™, along with our No Antibiotics Ever™ foodservice offerings, represents a significant transformation in the market. We’re raising the bar on the choices consumers can expect right now,” Christianson said.
The conversion to NAE at retail includes all the following Perdue® heat-and-eat and pre-seasoned chicken items:
“The No Antibiotics Ever™ distinction is very important to us,” Chairman Jim Perdue stated in the release. “That claim is transparent and absolutely clear to consumers: no antibiotics of any kind, at any time.”
Perdue concluded that consumers have a number of concerns around antibiotic use, and the company believes those consumers should have products available that address all those concerns. “That’s why we back up the No Antibiotics Ever™ claim on Perdue® consumer chicken products with a USDA Process Verified Program.”
Announced at the 2016 Annual Meat Conference in Nashville, the retail aspect of this transition will be available as soon as next month in grocery stores across the country.
As for converting all of its foodservice turkey items, the company clarified that this means more than 150 NAE items are now available to independent operators through foodservice distributors throughout the U.S.
