Poultry vet to retire from Butterball

MT. OLIVE, N.C. Dan Blackshear, president of sales and marketing for Butterball has announced his retirement from the company after a 38-year history in the poultry industry. His retirement will take effect before the end of 2007. Butterball was formed in October 2006 when Carolina Turkeys acquired the Butterball brand from Con Agra Foods. Prior to the acquisition, Blackshear was president and ceo of Carolina Turkeys.

Blackshear joined Carolina Turkeys in 1994, and during his tenure, has worked to transform the company from a commodity product entity to a value-added producer. Under his leadership, the company saw a 40% increase in total sales, while sales of value-added products more than tripled.

Before joining Carolina Turkeys, Blackshear spent 12 years at Cuddy Farms, where he served as senior vp of the food division. Prior to that, he was a division manager at Pillsbury Farms and Country Pride Foods.