Surry Business

Wayne Farms LLC, the fourth-largest vertically integrated poultry producer in the United States, has once again earned the Vendor Improvement Process (VIP) Cornerstone Award from Gordon Food Service, North America’s largest privately held food-service distributor. The award is the highest honor Gordon gives to its vendors.

“The VIP Cornerstone Award is one of the most comprehensive awards in our industry,” said Elton Maddox, Wayne Farms LLC’s president and CEO. “To again be recognized by Gordon as a leader in service and products is an affirmation that we continue to operate at the highest level of quality.”

Gordon Food Service evaluates its vendors through a program known as the Vendor Improvement Process (VIP). Vendors are compared in categories such as order fill rate; purchase order and invoice matching; on-time delivery; damage and spoilage; customer credits and returns; bar coding of packaging; pallet quality; and inventory turns. The VIP Cornerstone Award winners have the highest total scores.

During the seven years when Gordon has awarded the VIP Award, Wayne Farms has received the honor in four consecutive years (2004-07) and six times in all.

Wayne Farms LLC, formerly known as the Poultry Division of ContiGroup Companies, is the nation’s fourth-largest producer and processor of broiler chickens. Utilizing the many resources within ContiGroup, Wayne Farms’s vertical integration allows control of the process from feed to final (raw or cooked) product, assuring strict product quality and food safety.

The company has 11 U.S. facilities, including one in North Carolina: the Dobson operation in Surry County.