Two-year-old Pure Prairie Poultry Launches Charter Retail Brand of Fresh, Air-Chilled Chicken

Nov. 13, 2023

Ten products will start selling in 50 stores in Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin, with plans to expand to the Midwest and beyond.

Andy Hanacek

Pure Prairie Poultry, a new chicken processor that opened its first processing plant in 2021 in Charles City, Iowa, has launched its charter retail brand using the same name in more than 50 locations in Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin with plans to grow distribution throughout the Midwest and beyond.

Pure Prairie Poultry focuses its efforts on air-chilled and well-trimmed chicken products, the company said in its announcement, packaged in fixed-weight #1 PET plastic recyclable, clear trays. In addition, the company starts with a smaller chicken and does not add salt or solutions to the products, said Brad Vokac, vice president of sales and marketing.

The fixed-weight packages provide a labor savings in that there is no need to individually weigh and label every package for accuracy. In addition, Vokac says, they allow retailers to merchandise packages in whatever way they see fit, like other grocery items. The lack of pricing labels also gives consumers a better view of the entire product in the package.

Pure Prairie Poultry will offer 10 fresh chicken products in a variety of package sizes. Consumers will be prompted to learn more about the company and its products via a QR code on each package.

About the Author

Andy Hanacek | Senior Editor

Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.