It doesn’t take an economist to understand that the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving are an extremely busy time of year for the Butterball, LLC, plant in Huntsville. But employees of the plant refer to this period of increased production by a relatively tranquil term: “Fresh season.”
For “fresh season,” plant employees worked seven days a week from Oct. 18 through Nov. 13. During that time, the plant operated only one kill shift, but had a contract clean-up crew working on second shift and a small team of maintenance and quality assurance personnel at the plant 24 hours a day.
The plant marked the end of “fresh season” by celebrating the preparation of its one millionth bird.
Bill Folk, complex manager at the Huntsville plant, said the achievement was the result of a team effort.
“Our employees understand the company’s mission and take pride in knowing that they are part of the largest turkey producing company, and that what they’re producing will be on thousands of dinner tables around the world,” he said. “We talk about this during orientation and whenever the opportunity presents itself. Our main goal is to keep employees motivated and handle any issues that may arise immediately.”
Folk said he and Butterball administrators placed an emphasis on keeping employees motivated throughout “fresh season.” The plant had free meals catered and sponsored weekly contests to reward employees for their extra efforts. These efforts helped keep the Huntsville facility as one of the company’s top Thanksgiving-time contributors.
“On average, Butterball provides more than 30 percent of the 46 million birds the National Turkey Federation estimates will be sold for Thanksgiving,” Folk said. “This is more than any other turkey producer in the United States. The Huntsville facility does about half of Butterball’s whole bird production.”
The success of “fresh season” and the one millionth bird were attributable to the plant’s existing workforce. No temporary or part-time labor was brought in to meet the increased demand.
“We have a smoke and bake department that does not run any product during our ‘fresh season,’ so those 40 associates are redistributed to other departments, resulting in us not having to hire any additional labor over the past couple of years,” Folk said.
Though the Huntsville Butterball plant ended another “fresh season” by meeting its goals, the nationwide company is still feeling the effects of the recession.
Joe Nalley, chief operating officer for Butterball, LLC, which is headquartered in Garner, N.C., said that market demands have forced the turkey preparation industry to reduce production by eight percent during the last year. He said this can be largely attributed to the company’s increased expenses.
“With corn prices increasing over 60 percent since June, the cost of feeding Butterball turkeys has also climbed proportionally and everyone is feeling the increase in gasoline,” Nalley said. “As long as these increased input cost conditions persist, you will eventually have consumers impacted with higher costs for all foods, including poultry and (other) meat products.”
Despite economic challenges, Nalley said Butterball is still committed to charitable efforts in and around the communities where it operates.
“The company has donated approximately 262,000 pounds of turkey this year to charitable organizations in its plant communities and around the country
– nearly double the amount of contributions made last year,” he said. “The company focused a large portion of its holiday turkey donations locally, near plant and corporate locations in Arkansas, Colorado, Missouri and North Carolina.”
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Me and my Mom have had to resort to going to the Huntsville food pantry this year. Iam a disabled vet and she is on a fixed social security income. We havent got any meat in 3 months.
Will you be donating any turkeys to them for Thanksgiving this year?
It would be really nice to have a small turkey to cook for 2. I dont like asking for charity and havent found a church or local group serving
Thanksgiving dinner except the Huntsville Senior Center and I would have to pay $3.60 which believe it or not I dont have. Any help would be appreciated.
Victoria, I know Butterball does some donations through local churches during the holiday season. You may want to contact First Baptist of Huntsville, First Presbyterian, Huntsville Missionary and other churches to see exactly what they’re donating this holiday season.
I attended the community service last Sunday where they held a special service for and by the Ministerial Alliance. I was heartened to see people taking up a collection for this great orgination that helps locals having difficulties with food, bills, clothing, ect. I asked God for blessings on this group and all who donate thier time to this cause. Went to the Open Arms Food Pantry in Huntsville for emergency food and saw turkeys being carried in. They didnt have enough to go around so everybody put their names down and they had a drawing. I didnt figure we’d win one (I never win anything) but we did! We received a small turkey (excellent for 2) and some stuffing mix to go with it. Praise God. We will be giving thanks to all who donated the turkeys and to all those who have and continue to donate food to the pantry. Special thanks to all the volunteers who come back week after to week to distribute the food and those behind the scences who collect it. Also special thanks to the Huntsville Seniors Center who continue to feed and entertain my Mom, they have really made a difference in her quality of life here in Huntsville.