Koch Foods of Ashland, LLC

Koch Foods of Ashland, LLC operates at 515 Tyson Rd in Ashland, Alabama, in Clay County. The plant holds federal establishment numbers P1254 and V1254 and is listed with USDA FSIS for poultry slaughter, poultry processing, and export certification. The grant of inspection date on file is July 2, 2021. FSIS classifies the establishment as small and reports poultry as the only species slaughtered under inspection. The FSIS slaughter volume category on file is 5.0. No custom-exempt activity is reported, meaning the plant is not listed as doing custom slaughter or processing for individual owners of animals.

The company website describes Koch Foods as a privately held, vertically integrated poultry company headquartered in Park Ridge, Illinois, with more than 13,000 employees and operations in Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio, and Tennessee. Live operations, including feedmills, hatcheries, breeders, and broilers, are based in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. The company states that all of its birds are raised by independent growers, that it blends its own feed in FDA-inspected facilities, and that it is committed to raising small birds. It states that all Koch Foods facilities are USDA inspected and operate under HACCP and SSOP plans meeting 9 CFR 417, and that the company holds BRC Standard certification.

The website is corporate rather than plant specific, so it does not describe the Ashland facility's own product lines, hours, or intake practices. Koch Foods sells through foodservice, consumer products, and export channels, with retail brands listed as Koch Foods, Cravers Chicken, and Antioch Farms, and a separate Oven Cravers brand named in its About Us text. Details specific to the Ashland plant beyond the federal record are not yet on file.

The federal record reports no custom-exempt activity at this establishment, so there is no indication that the plant slaughters or processes animals brought in by individual farmers. Koch Foods describes itself as a vertically integrated poultry company whose birds are raised by independent contract growers in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, with company-owned feedmills, hatcheries, and breeder operations. Booking procedures, minimums, fees, and cut and wrap terms are not stated in the sources.

Koch Foods of Ashland, LLC operates under a federal grant of inspection, so product from this plant can be sold anywhere in the United States, which matters if you sell online or across a state line. FSIS does not list a custom-exempt activity for this plant.

No retail counter, farm store, halves or quarters, bundles, delivery, or direct online ordering is described for the Ashland plant. Koch Foods states that its chicken can be found in grocery stores under the Koch Foods, Cravers Chicken, and Antioch Farms brand names, and that a store locator map is available in the Products section of its website. Fully cooked frozen retail items listed include crispy chicken breast strips, chicken nuggets, grilled chicken breast strips, and buffalo style chicken strips.

If you are buying a half or quarter animal, the plant is where the animal is processed; the farm sells you the animal. Read how to buy a half cow for the sequence and the math.