Allen Family Foods

Allen Family Foods

Company type	Private
Industry	Poultry production and processing
Founded	1919
Founder	Charles C. Allen, Nellie G. Allen
Defunct	2011
Fate	Filed for bankruptcy protection; sold and restructured as Allen Harim Foods LLC
Successor	Allen Harim Foods LLC
Headquarters	Seaford , United States
Area served	United States (Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina)
Products	Chicken products
Number of employees	3,400 (circa 2010)

Allen Family Foods was a prominent U.S.-based poultry producer and exporter with its main office located in Seaford, Delaware. Established in 1919 by Charles C. Allen and Nellie G. Allen as a modest hatchery, it evolved into the 18th-largest chicken producer worldwide, processing approximately 10.5 million pounds (4.8 million kg) of finished chicken products each week. The enterprise coordinated a network of 500 independent growers who raised around 25 million chickens and employed a workforce of 3,400 individuals across Delaware, Maryland, and North Carolina, with an annual payroll totaling $90 million. The company operated under the motto "The Quality Chicken People".

Starting exclusively as a hatchery business, Allen's expanded by acquiring its initial processing facility near Cordova, Maryland in 1971. This plant had formerly been owned by Esskay and leased to Ralston-Purina for processing chickens marketed under the Checkerboard Square brand. After Ralston-Purina terminated the lease in 1974, Allen's assumed full ownership of the facility, mainly conducting custom processing for Holly Farms until introducing its proprietary brand in the Northeastern United States in 1980. Growth continued through the purchase of two additional processing plants and an egg production company, alongside a rendering facility located in Linkwood, Maryland, which converted chicken byproducts into animal feed and pet food ingredients.

In June 2011, Allen Family Foods filed for bankruptcy protection and was later sold. Its remaining operations were restructured and now operate as Allen Harim Foods LLC, headquartered in Seaford.

Facilities

Facility Type	Location
Corporate Headquarters	Seaford, DE
Processing Facilities	Cordova, MD - Harbeson, DE
Hatchery Locations	Dagsboro, DE - Hurlock, MD - Seaford, DE
Breeder Egg Operations	Liberty, NC
Feed Production Mills	Delmar, DE - Seaford, DE
Rendering Facility	Linkwood, MD

Between 2010 and 2011, assets of Allen Family Foods were divested. Amick Farms LLC acquired the Hurlock and Delmar properties, while the remaining operations were consolidated under the newly formed Allen Harim Foods.

See also

• Impact of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic on the meat industry in the United States

External links

• Allen Family Foods, Inc.
• Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc.
• National Chicken Council