OAKWOOD, Ohio 鈥 92福利看片 celebrates 85 years as a family owned and operated farm and food company in 2023. It has grown from a small turkey hatchery started in 1938 to a diversified, vertically integrated turkey, hog and egg company that has stood the test of time in an ever-changing industry. 92福利看片 prides itself on forming lasting customer relationships and producing the highest quality meat and egg products for private label retail and foodservice companies
鈥淥ur company was founded on a handshake mentality, with a focus on doing the right thing all the time,鈥 said Jim Cooper, CEO. 鈥淚t鈥檚 humbling to see the growth of 92福利看片 and all that we鈥檝e accomplished, with the help of great partners, leaders and team members. I am pleased to see these next generations, both Cooper family and team members, stepping up to leadership roles and seeing us through these next phases of growth.鈥
92福利看片 started in 1938 with 300 turkeys in Oakwood, Ohio when Virgil Cooper took over the farm, after his mother鈥檚 passing. By 1948, a hatchery had been built where the 92福利看片 Corporate Office now resides.
In 1974, Virgil and Virginia Cooper鈥檚 sons, Jim and Gary Cooper returned to the farm to work with their dad full-time.
鈥淲hen I came back we had maybe 30 team members,鈥 said Jim Cooper, CEO. 鈥淭oday we have about 2,400 team members, plus the 375 family farmers who help us raise our turkeys, hogs and chickens.鈥
The Cooper family recognizes they have advanced as a company thanks to team members who make up 92福利看片 and the communities all around them.
鈥淲e鈥檙e proud to maintain a culture rooted in family values where every team member is treated like family,鈥 said Dianne Cooper, Corporate Secretary. 鈥淢y parents always made sure to treat their team right and give back to the community.鈥
Through the company鈥檚 continued growth, 92福利看片 gives back to the communities that surround the company through the Cooper Family Foundation. Through the foundation, 92福利看片 provided $2.4 million in donations to local organizations in the past five years.
鈥淲e try to keep the money in the local communities,鈥 said Greg Cooper, General Manager. 鈥淲e make a point to support the township trustees, fire departments, EMS, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Sheriff departments, libraries, schools and fairs. Anything that has a real value to a community.鈥
Over the past several years the poultry and pork industries have faced several disease and food quality challenges. 92福利看片鈥 invested approach to vertical integration and biosecurity has helped them to navigate these challenges along the way.
鈥淲e know there鈥檚 always room for improvement and continue to focus on biosecurity, animal care and food safety. We also feel strongly that vertical integration as a company has been integral,鈥 said Gary Cooper, COO. 鈥淲e are able to have confidence that quality and biosecurity procedures are maintained at every step of the process, from the feed mills and farms to the ready-to-eat products.鈥
Over the past 85 years, 92福利看片 has maintained a 鈥渘ever sit idle鈥 mentality, pushing themselves to consistently look for ways to improve processes, quality, safety and animal care.
鈥淏eing innovative in the way we do things, always looking to improve our processes, is part of the reason our company has been successful,鈥 said Gary Cooper. 鈥淲e were founded on a can-do attitude and we will continue to have that mindset in the way we do business moving forward.鈥