Executive Search Success Story: Building the Live Production and Supply Chain Leadership for a Vertically Integrated Protein Producer

How JRG Partners executed a confidential, multi-role North American executive search strategy that equipped a vertically integrated poultry and pork producer with the live production, feed, animal health, and supply chain leadership required to expand capacity, improve biosecurity and animal welfare performance, and meet the sustainability expectations of major retail and foodservice customers.

The Challenge

A family-controlled, vertically integrated poultry and pork producer had secured long-term supply agreements with major retail and foodservice customers that required a significant expansion of live production capacity. At the same time, those customers were raising expectations for animal welfare certification, antibiotic stewardship, and sustainability reporting. Executive leadership identified several critical vulnerabilities threatening the expansion and customer relationships:

• Live production leadership stretched across an expanding grower network and new complexes
• Biosecurity and disease risk heightened by geographic expansion and industry outbreaks
• Feed costs and nutrition performance below peer benchmarks
• Animal welfare and antibiotic stewardship programs lacking dedicated executive ownership
• Supply chain functions operating in silos across live, feed, processing, and logistics
• Customer audits and sustainability requirements increasing faster than internal capability

To address these scaling pain points, the CEO and family ownership launched a strategic talent initiative to build an operations leadership team capable of supporting the expansion while meeting customer expectations. The recruitment mandate included the strategic hiring of a Chief Operating Officer, VP Live Production, VP Feed & Nutrition, Director of Animal Health & Welfare, and VP Integrated Supply Chain. The company required an executive search partner with deep animal agriculture expertise and direct access to leaders who had scaled integrated protein operations.

Why They Chose JRG Partners

Animal Agriculture and Protein Expertise

JRG Partners possesses deep recruiting expertise across integrated poultry, pork, beef, and egg producers, feed and nutrition companies, and animal health organizations. This domain knowledge ensured an immediate understanding of live production economics, grower relations, biosecurity, and welfare standards.

Access to Proven Integration Leaders

Our team specializes in identifying executives who have scaled live production capacity, improved feed conversion and nutrition performance, and built welfare and stewardship programs that satisfy major customer audits.

Family-Owned Business Experience

Our firm has extensive experience serving family-controlled agribusinesses, evaluating cultural fit and long-term commitment alongside technical and operational credentials.

Our Executive Search Strategy

Phase 1 — Operational Review

Our consultants partnered directly with the CEO, family ownership, and processing leadership to evaluate expansion plans, live production performance, feed and nutrition benchmarks, welfare program gaps, and supply chain integration needs. This review aligned the search with customer commitments and capacity milestones.

Phase 2 — Industry Talent Mapping

Our research team performed an extensive talent mapping initiative targeting live production, feed and nutrition, animal health, and supply chain executives at integrated protein companies, feed manufacturers, animal health organizations, and agricultural logistics operators. Over 380 executives were systematically assessed across these sectors.

Phase 3 — Candidate Engagement

Priority during outreach was given to leaders with a documented history of expanding live production capacity, strengthening biosecurity, improving feed efficiency, implementing certified welfare programs, and integrating multi-function agricultural supply chains. Only candidates meeting these strict performance baselines advanced.

Phase 4 — Final Selection

Finalists completed comprehensive leadership assessments and cultural fit evaluations, participated in structured interviews with the CEO and family ownership, and underwent reference verification focused on quantified production, cost, and welfare outcomes.

Key Outcomes

• 380+ live production, animal science, feed, and agricultural supply chain executive profiles mapped across North America.
• Successfully placed a synchronized leadership tier spanning chief operations, live production, feed and nutrition, animal health and welfare, and integrated supply chain.
• Delivered a multi-complex live production expansion on schedule under new operational leadership.
• Improved feed conversion and reduced feed cost per pound through nutrition and milling leadership.
• Secured third-party animal welfare certification and passed all major customer audits.
• De-risked long-term retail and foodservice supply agreements through visible operational and welfare leadership upgrades.