George?s Doesn?t Cluck About Success

Gary George won’t sit around looking for just the right way to describe why George’s Inc. is so successful. To him, it’s as plain as the feathers on a white leghorn.

“You have to be good at what you do and your people make all the difference,” said George, CEO of George’s and a third-generation leader of the Springdale company.

Obviously, George’s has been very good at what it has done. That has perhaps never been more evident than during the ongoing meat surplus that has caused serious damage within the meat-processing industry. Companies nationwide have sustained financial damage, from poultry giant Tyson Foods Inc. to numerous smaller companies that have been forced to merge, sell or fold altogether.

Tom Cosgrove, editor of Poultry Magazine in Chicago, said the fallout from the meat glut is not over.

“As the industry gets back on track, there are going to be casualties,” Cosgrove said. “George’s does not release a lot of information about its performance, but from all indications, it is one of the more steady and consistent performers among the midsized processors. They’re buying stuff out the kazoo for their plants, and that tells you they’re doing pretty good.”

Virginia’s WLR Foods was recently acquired by Pilgrim’s Pride of Pittsburg, Texas. Quality Food Holdings on Feb. 1 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Supreme Beef Processors of Dallas also was forced to file bankruptcy.

But George’s has kept its composure like few others during what has become a depression of sorts for the meat industry. It’s a reflection of the company’s unwritten rule of never getting too high or too low regardless of the situation.

“Frankly, we try not to have a lot of highs and lows in our company,” said George’s president Monty Henderson. “We try to be consistent with a high level of integrity.”

George’s has expanded its food service and completely remodeled its Springdale operations from its processing plant to its new cooking plant, which is expected to be online by July. And it will soon break ground on a new hatchery facility in Cassville, Mo., that some believe will be the largest and one of the most modern in the world. It is expected to be in operation by the first quarter of 2002.

Currently, George’s has two plants in Springdale and the one in Cassville. It also has hatcheries in Springdale and Tontitown and a commercial egg facility in Siloam Springs.

“We’re not fast growing, but we’re growing,” said George.

“We take a lot of pride in our facilities,” Henderson said. “When the George’s family builds facilities, they do so in a first-class manner. That gives employees a nice work environment, and it also helps in dealing with customers. Nowhere will our facilities embarrass the company.”

A privately held firm, George’s is indeed private about its business. But the company did increase its tonnage in 2000 by 15 percent and is on track for increasing that figure about 10 percent this year.

George’s would not disclose its employment numbers in Northwest Arkansas, but Cosgrove estimated them at 2,300. He also lists the firm’s 1999 sales at $315 million and estimates George’s will exceed that number in 2000.

Cosgrove said comparable firms would be B.C. Rogers Poultry of Morton, Miss., with $320 million in 1999 sales, Zacky Farms Inc. of South El Monte, Calif., ($316 million) and Allen Family Foods Inc. of Seaford, Del., Mountaire Farms of Selbyville, Del., and Peco Foods in Gordo, Ala., at $300 million each.

Both George and Henderson refuse to label other poultry companies as competitors, rather friends of George’s.

George’s is a diverse company, with interests in cattle, propane gas and banking to go along with its chicken and eggs.

Both Gary George and his father, Gene, are board members at First National Bank of Springdale. Gene ran the company after his brother, Luther, and his father, C.L. George, each passed away in 1969. Gene is a past honoree of the Arkansas Poultry Federation as its Man of the Year.

Bill McClellan, director of sales and marketing, said that while George’s does take a low-key approach to publicity, its name is well-known throughout the industry. George’s chicken can be found at KFC, Popeye’s and Church’s, as well as at a private restaurant on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. George’s products can also be found at industrial feedings, university cafeterias, hospitals and nursing homes.

“Our fresh products go from New Orleans to Chicago and west,” McClellan said. “Our frozen products go nationally.”

George’s sales are geared toward fast-food and food service companies.

“Our only retail is what we call retail by accident,” McClellan said. “Things like our wing items may end up in supermarkets. When you sell [wings], most of the time, you don’t know if they’ll end up in retail or food service.”

George’s raises two sizes of chickens — a larger one primarily for the boneless market for both white and dark meat and a smaller one for the frozen market. George’s also sends it chicken paws to China and leg quarters to Russia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan. And it is doing a lot of boneless leg meat for Japan.

McClellan pointed out that the meat surplus was not necessarily because of an excess of chicken produced domestically, rather the big growth in production from Brazil and China. In 2000, George’s sent 10 percent of its chicken internationally. The industry average is about 15-17 percent.

“In the early ’80s, we didn’t really care what other countries were doing,” McClellan said. “But there’s no longer just a U.S. market. We’re in a world market now.”

George said his company’s success is largely due to a loyal group of employees and growers. At a recent luncheon for the growers, George said he was amazed at how many growers had been with George’s for “years and years and years.”

“Everybody in this business has their ups and downs, and sometimes, when you’re on top, it’s hard to stay there,” George said. “Right now, we have a great management team and a great group of contract growers. We go about our business and do our own thing. It’s a combination of everybody doing their job and doing it well and caring about our people and our customers.”