Peco Foods began in the 1930s when Herman Hickman bought 75 white leghorn biddies from his brother-in-law for three cents a piece. Hickman sold those chickens by going door-to-door asking housewives if they could use one for dinner. Soon after, Hickman purchased an incubator to enable himself to continue growing and selling chickens. Today, Peco Foods processes over 3 million chickens a week in 4 integrated complexes. The much anticipated expansion of the Sebastopol, Mississippi plant began operation in February 2005, giving that plant the capacity to process 1 million chickens a week.
It was humble beginnings for Peco Foods and that air of humbleness remains in tact. Through the years, Peco has remained a family-owned business. Three generations of Hickmans have served as CEO of Peco Foods. Some might say that chicken is in their blood. When the current CEO, Mark Hickman, was asked about the sense of pride he must feel to be a part of the company his grandfather created and is now in the top ten, Mark humbly said "Peco is not focused on where we rank, we're focused on producing a consistent, quality product." But in the top ten is exactly where they are. As of January 2005, Watt Poultry USA ranked Peco as the 10th largest processor of chicken in the United States, and it's this commitment to staying focused on doing what they do best that has landed Peco in this prestigious position.
In 2004, on an average weekly basis, Peco produced 15.6 million pounds of ready-to-cook chicken. That's a far cry from Herman Hickman's original 75 biddies, and certainly something to be proud of, but you'll find no big egos at Peco Foods. Ask anyone in upper-level management at Peco Foods and they'll point out that no one person runs the show. Every member of the management team has a title, but none of them are quick to offer it up. This is attributed to Peco's team management philosophy. Mark Hickman said, "It's a team management approach. No one person is more important than the next."
Since Peco's decision to concentrate on large bird production, they have proudly used Morris Drag Style Chillers. When asked how Peco feels about Morris, the word of the day was "dependability"; dependable people; dependable equipment; dependable service. Denny Hickman, Chairman and former CEO said "You can always count on Jack. He's there when we need him and he's never tried to sell us anything we didn't need." Mark Hickman added, when it comes to service, "Morris is on a whole new level. They're a notch above."
With the dependability of Morris Drag Style Chillers, combined with Peco's commitment to producing a consistent, quality product, Peco Foods is destined to have continued success. Read the entire history of Peco Foods
"Our salesman, Jack, is honest and he's never tried to sell us anything we didn't need."
– Denny Hickman
Chairman, Peco Foods