User:Dekkanar/Sandbox

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Foran Spice Company - http://foranspice.com/index.htm

[edit] History

Prior to 1996, Louis Rich, the brand name for the turkey division of Oscar Mayer and a division of Kraft Foods, owned the processing plant in West Liberty, IA.^[1] In early 1996, Kraft announced that they would close the plant in December of that year if no buyer came forward to purchase the plant.^[2] Many of the Iowa turkey growers who sold to Kraft discussed purchasing the plant to ensure that demand for their birds continued to exist.^[1] In May 1996, forty-seven of the turkey growers formed the Iowa Turkey Growers Cooperative(ITGC).^[1] The ITGC purchased the plant from Kraft and took over in December.^[1] To oversee operation of the facility, the growers hired meat industry veteran Ken Rutledge to be President and COO of the new company.^[3] Oscar Mayer helped the new company by promising to purchase half of the plant's output in 1997 and a quarter of the output in 1998 from the new owners to help the startup company.^[4]

Production under ITGC ownership began in January 1997.^[1] The company initially faced difficulties as the turkey market was oversupplied and prices hit historic lows.^[1] While financial projections had assumed a price of $1.92 per pound for turkey, prices averaged $1.46 per pound in 1997.^[4] During this time period, four of the original growers left ITGC.^[2] Turkey prices eventually rebounded and near the end of 1998 and West Liberty Foods was bolstered by sales to Sara Lee.^[1]

Since then, sales by West Liberty Foods have grown steadily.^[1] In 2000 the company acquired another plant in Sigourney, IA from Pinnacle Foods in order to meet rising orders for product.^[1] West Liberty Foods expanded again in April, 2003 when it opened a new processing plant in Mount Pleasant, IA which was then expanded in 2004.^[5] Company leadership changed in 2004 when Ed Garrett was named president and COO when Rutledge resigned to take a position with another growers' organization.^[6] In 2006 the company entered into a marketing alliance agreement with Midvale, Utah based Norbest Foods.^[7]

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i} The Iowa Phoenix (English). Meat Processing (October 2000). Retrieved on 08-14, 2006.
2. ^ ^{a b} (2000). West Liberty Foods Finds Success with Cooperation. “Iowa Grocer”
3. ^ (October, 2000). Finding the Right Niche. “Meat Processing”
4. ^ ^{a b} Associated Press. "Low Prices Hurt Turkey Co-Op", Telegraph Herald, 1997-12-15, p. A5. Retrieved on July 31, 2006. (in English), cited at Newsbank/Infoweb
5. ^ Young, Barbara. "Branding Food Safety.", National Provisioner, The, May 2004.
6. ^ "Change at the Top of WL Foods", West Liberty Index, March 09, 2004. Retrieved on June 14, 2006.
7. ^ West Liberty Foods (2006), “News and Press Releases”. Retrieved June 13, 2006.