In June 1950, A.M. Cuddy invested $3000 in a 100-acre turkey farm in Strathroy, Ontario. From these simple beginnings, the company has dedicated itself to perfecting poultry through innovation and exacting quality standards for almost 50 years. Today, Cuddy International has gross sales in excess of $300 million per year and employs 2400 people. It has become a fully integrated poultry producer, involved in breeding, hatching, growing, processing, further-processing and distribution. As such, the Cuddy corporation is able to control the quality of its poultry meat from embryo to entrée.

At Cuddy Farms, where it all began, the best turkey technicians in the world are employed in the breeding and hatching of genetically superior eggs and poults (baby turkeys). The quality which is bred into each Cuddy poult provides real and measurable financial benefits to turkey producers, giving Cuddy eggs and poults a distinct competitive advantage.

As a result, the company has grown into the largest supplier of day-old poults and turkey hatching eggs in the world, commanding a 27 percent share of the non-integrated global turkey market. From its 4400-acre land base in Strathroy and strategic pro-duction locations in five U.S. states, Cuddy Farms produces approximately 130 million turkey eggs annually. Cuddy has been active in the European industry since 1971 and ships about 400,000 eggs overseas each week, serving customers in more than 17 countries.

The biggest technological breakthrough was the pioneering of year-round production in the 1960s. Before that, turkeys laid eggs only in the spring. By controlling the light in the turkey barns, A.M. Cuddy discovered that he could convince the birds it was spring all year round and for the first time, producers could purchase turkey poults any time of year.
 

The first Cuddy turkey hatchery operates from its original location on the home farm near Strathroy, Ontario, centrally located in Canada and near to international transportation routes. There are four more turkey hatcheries stragegically located in the United States and one in Germany.

“Customers here and in the U.S. were clamouring to get off-season poults, ones available in the summer months. So I said if you want poults in the off-season from me, you have to commit to buying them from me during the regular season too,” says Cuddy. The bargain worked. It secured Cuddy’s position as front-runner in the global turkey industry and allowed the Canadian-based company to break into the lucrative U.S. market.

Cuddy expanded into the U.S. in earnest in 1971, with the acquisition of one of the world’s largest turkey hatcheries in Pageland, South Carolina, and followed up with expansion into Missouri and Minnesota. Today, Cuddy Farms has a 20 percent share of the entire U.S. turkey market for poults, supplying some of the largest conglomerates in the world. In North America, one of every five turkeys served, regardless of trade name, was hatched from a Cuddy egg.

The food processing side of Cuddy International is Cuddy Food Products based in London, Ontario. It is one of the country’s leading producers of processed turkey and chicken. Cuddy controls approximately a 20 percent share of the Canadian value-added turkey market and about a 10 percent share of the value-added chicken market. In addition to primary and further processing capabilities, capacity to produce fully-cooked products was added in 1993.

Cuddy Food Products enjoys an excellent reputation for delivering high quality products, innovative product development and proactive customer service and has gained the confidence of the world’s leading foodservice and retail giants. For example, Cuddy Foods is the exclusive supplier of processed poultry products to McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada Limited, a distinction held for more than 16 years.
 

Cuddy Food Products based in London, ONtario, is ranked Canada's leading producer of processed trukey and chicken.

Cuddy markets products under its own brand name, Family Classics, and also custom-produces products for some of the best known private labels in the country such as President’s Choice, Master Choice and M & M. Cuddy Foods is proud to be the largest poultry supplier to Loblaws and its affiliate outlets through National Grocers.

Cuddy serves and supports its customers through a direct sales force providing the highest quality products in the industry. In the healthcare foodservice segment, Cuddy is a leader in product development with 35 percent of sales made up of new products launched within the past four years.

Not only are Cuddy products sold and enjoyed across Canada, Cuddy has proven that its meat products can compete for gold with the best beef- and pork-based products anywhere in the world. Twice, Cuddy Food Products has competed in the Austrian Culinary Olympics in Wels, Austria. In 1988, Cuddy products returned home with a total of 20 gold, silver and bronze medals; in 1992, a total of 28 medals were won.

Cuddy Transportation provides its own fleet of tractor trailer trucks, operating from its home base in London, Ontario. In 1994, Cuddy Transportation opened a custom-designed quality centre to service not only its own fleet but also other refrigerated fleets.

In keeping with exacting Cuddy standards, Cuddy trucks and trailers are kept sparkling clean and white. Drivers are in uniform and trained for roadside assistance. In fact, this kind of quality and excellence is highly visible at all levels of the Cuddy organization. Cuddy processing plants have received triple-A rating in cleanliness from Agriculture Canada. Cuddy farms and plants are beautifully landscaped and maintained. Access to all facilities is restricted for biosecurity purposes.

Cuddy Farms strives to be a model employer and is pleased to sponsor human resource training programs for employees and scholarships for their dependents. Cuddy is also proud to support charitable and non-profit causes with generous gifts of time, money, talent and product donations. As such, Cuddy has developed a strong reputation in its communities, the most prominent felt in the small town of Strathroy, Ontario, where it all began. The town is known as the “Turkey Capital of Canada” and each summer the community celebrates a public festival, entitled (what else?): “Turkey Fest.”