GAINESVILLE, Ga. — Poultry Times’ new podcast, The Coop Scoop, had the distinct honor this week of its first live, in-studio participant — Kevin McDaniel, Wayne-Sanderson Farms president and CEO.
McDaniel provided an in-depth insight into the poultry business, as well as the latest news regarding his company. And there has been a variety of Wayne-Sanderson news in recent weeks. The company has acquired fellow Georgia company, Harrison Poultry; announced it will be a Southeastern Conference (SEC) sponsor; and it has also celebrated the grand opening of a new $43 million feed mill in Danville, Ark.
Wayne-Sanderson Farms is certainly reporting some recent successes, but as McDaniel notes, for business success there needs to be a consistent focus on the processes.
“We strive at Wayne-Sanderson to continue to strive for excellence, to get better at what we do every day,” he said. “We have a concept that we call process focus, and it’s basically our continuous improvement effort.”
“In my philosophy … if everyone in the organization incorporates a process-focused mindset, if they focus on their processes and the things they can control, the overall outcome; it’s better for the company, better for the product, better for everything,” McDaniel said. “Everybody has a role in it, like quality and safety. It’s not just a department; it’s everybody’s job to worry about quality and safety. It’s the same way with continuous improvement process focus, saying that we will continue to build on our strengths. We’ll solidify ourselves where have weaknesses and do better at that.”
Looking at broiler production industry-wide, McDaniel added that things are looking good, especially from a grain input perspective.
“There are, however, a lot of negotiations that are going on globally that may influence grain and the trading of grain … but right now, everything is looking bright from a grain standpoint and if demand keeps on, it looks like we’re in a good spot,” he said.
“We’ve also seen a little bit of a shift of some of our items into fast food channels,” McDaniel added. “You’re seeing more and more restaurants adding and taking more space in the menu for chicken-type items. Some chains that are primarily thought of as burger restaurants, hamburger restaurants, are shifting to chicken items and some are actually selling more chicken than they are beef. So, that’s exciting for us. It’s become a standard menu item, so that speaks well for our space.”
· The nation’s third-largest poultry producer, Wayne-Sanderson Farms’ headquarters in Oakwood, Ga., is very near the Poultry Times office, and it was an honor to have Kevin McDaniel as an in-studio guest. To hear the complete podcast, visit www.PoultryTimes.com and follow the link to The Coop Scoop.
