What does it take to be a successful entrepreneur? Ask A.M. Cuddy and you get one answer: “It takes guts, it takes tenacity and it doesn’t hurt to have a vast misunderstanding about just how big the risks really are.”

In the early years, the Cuddy organization came close to the wire at different times. It took a strong-minded, innovative, and intuitive businessperson to steer it back on course and firmly establish Cuddy International as an enduring industry leader. A.M. (“Mac”) Cuddy provided that leadership. Today, he remains the visionary Chairman of the Board.

Although many have lauded his accomplishments over the past 50 years, two of his proudest moments came in 1994 when he received an honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Guelph for his career achievements in international agriculture and food processing and was named “Master Entrepreneur” in Ontario’s first annual Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.

Like many entrepreneurs, A.M. Cuddy stumbled into his life calling innocently, and, to this day, he remains humble about all the attention he has received. Born in 1919 in Kerwood, Ontario, after completing horticultural studies at the Ontario Agricultural College, he served with distinction in the Canadian Army for four years. Following armistice, he worked with the Veteran’s Land Act, awaiting the opportunity to buy land.

In June 1950, he moved his war bride and young family into a century-style farm-house on a 100-acre turkey farm near Strathroy, Ontario. A few years later, he purchased two used incubators and the rest, as they say, is history.

The turkey farm has grown today into Cuddy International Corporation, with gross sales in excess of $300 million and operations spanning two continents. Cuddy Farms, the world’s largest supplier of day-old poults (baby turkeys) and hatching eggs, commands 27 percent share of the non-integrated global turkey market. Cuddy Food Products is a major purveyor of award-winning poultry products in Canada.
 

1. Mac’s love affair with turkeys has been ongoing for over fifty years. Today Cuddy Farms annually produces over 100 million turkey eggs, shipping weekly some 400,000 to Europe. [Photo, courtesy Cuddy Farms] 2. A.M. Cuddy was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of Guelph in 1994, the same year he was named Ontario's “Master Entrepreneur of the Year” by Canadian Business Magazine. [Photo, courtesy Cuddy international]

Even though he studied horticulture at university, the choice of entering the poultry industry was still a natural one. “Hatching is the thing that has always intrigued me – that you could take an egg, nurture it, and in 28 days help to produce a living thing,” says Cuddy. “I can remember the turkeys, in my life back on the farm as a kid, much better than I remember the chickens. I don’t know, there’s just something about turkeys – they’re cuter.”

The turkeys may have been cuter but it was his experience raising chickens that proved to be a key factor in his later success. At age 14, A.M. experimented and discovered that using kerosene lanterns to add light to his father’s chickenhouse increased the number of eggs the chickens laid.

When he established Cuddy Farms, turkey was a seasonal product because turkey eggs were laid only in the spring. Applying the principle learned as a boy, Cuddy used artificial light in the turkey barns to fool the turkeys into believing it was springtime, laying time, all year round. This breakthrough catapulted Cuddy to the head of the industry with year-round production soon becoming the standard.

Cuddy then set his sights on the food-processing side of the business. Traditionally, turkey had been enjoyed only as a roasted, whole body bird. Turkeys were sold as a commodity and prices were erratic. In the mid-1970s Cuddy said, “We’ve got to stop selling these turkeys like cord wood.” Over the next few years, Cuddy pioneered the development of further-processed turkey products. Busy consumers were ready for the convenience of turkey deli meats and Cuddy innovation again set the standard.

A.M. Cuddy’s relentless pursuit of excellence and quality is evident in all of his business ventures and in his generous support of community and industry. As founder of A.M. Cuddy Stables Limited, he gained international respect as premier breeder and racer of standard-bred horses. Progeny of Cuddy Stables have gone on to win at major stakes races in North America.

What makes A.M. Cuddy unique is his uncanny ability to recognize and seize market opportunities and develop new technologies. Under his leadership, Cuddy International Corporation has achieved remarkable growth and success, and his efforts have literally changed the course of the turkey industry world-wide. Family and non-family members comprise this skilled executive force and the company has in place a top-notch team of the best poultry professionals in the industry.

S.M. Graham