Perdue Farms moves chicken and turkey products to No Antibiotics Ever range

Perdue Farms plans to move its No Antibiotics Ever (NAE) range of poultry products into the grocery and foodservice sectors.

The transition includes Perdue Farms’ entire lines of refrigerated, frozen, and fresh chicken and turkey products.

Perdue claims to be the first brand to make all its chicken and turkey products to be antibiotic-free.

This transition also includes heat-and-eat and pre-seasoned chicken items such as strips, grilled strips and nuggets.

The NAE products are expected be available in stores from this month, while the transition will continue through May.

With the conversion of all foodservice turkey items into NAE, more than 150 NAE items will be at present available to independent operators through foodservice distributors across the US.

The NAE foodservice turkey and menu-ready chicken items are distributed to stores under the Perdue Harvestland and other foodservice brands.

Perdue Farms Marketing and Innovation senior vice-president Eric Christianson said: "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.

"In just a few months, we will take NAE mainstream, moving it beyond select fresh items and niche brands and making Purdue No Antibiotics Ever chicken products available everywhere consumers shop for chicken in the grocery store."

Two-thirds of the company’s chickens and are more than half of its turkey have been raised without the use of any antibiotics.

Perdue chairman Jim Perdue said: "The No Antibiotics Ever distinction is very important to us.

"That claim is transparent and absolutely clear to consumers: no antibiotics of any kind, at any time. Consumers have a number of concerns around antibiotic use, and they deserve products that address all those concerns with a promise they can trust."

Perdue Farms is raising the new range of its antibiotic-free chickens at nine of its processing units.

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Image: Transition to NAE products includes chicken items such as strips, grilled strips and nuggets. Photo: courtesy of rakratchada torsap via freedigitalphotos.