Baked Chicken.

Perdue Wants to Lure Organic Shoppers With Cheaper Chicken

Perdue Farms Inc. will convert its Simply Smart prepared chicken brand to organic later this year, Chief Marketing Officer Eric Christianson said in an interview. The line, which includes frozen products such as nuggets, tenders and breasts, will be sold at about half the price of comparable organic products at retail, which often go for about $15 a pound, he said.

July 24, 2018 | Source: Bloomberg | by Megan Durisin

Perdue Farms Inc., one of the world’s biggest producers of organic chicken, wants to bring the premium meat to the masses.

The Salisbury, Maryland-based company will convert its Simply Smart prepared chicken brand to organic later this year, Chief Marketing Officer Eric Christianson said in an interview. The line, which includes frozen products such as nuggets, tenders and breasts, will be sold at about half the price of comparable organic products at retail, which often go for about $15 a pound, he said.

U.S. consumers are continuing to clamor for organic goods. Sales in the category rose 6.4 percent to a record $49.4 billion in 2017, according to the Organic Trade Association. Tyson Foods Inc., the nation’s largest meat company, bought specialty chicken producer Tecumseh Poultry LLC earlier this year and Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. has a new organic facility in North Carolina.