Wayne-Sanderson Farms has released its 2026 Corporate Responsibility Report, titled The Power of Team, detailing operational achievements and workforce initiatives across the company's four core responsibility pillars: People, Planet, Animals, and Food. The Georgia-based poultry producer — which supplies retail, foodservice, restaurant, and institutional segments — operates 24 processing and further-processing facilities across seven southeastern and south-central states with a workforce of more than 27,000 employees and over 2,000 farm partners.
People and Community
Beyond plant-floor and farm metrics, the report highlights the company's investment in the communities surrounding its operations. Initiatives include expanding local and collegiate educational programs, funding charitable endeavors, equipping volunteer emergency services, and coordinating rapid disaster-response efforts. For restaurant and foodservice operators sourcing poultry at scale, a supplier's community and workforce investments increasingly factor into supply chain sustainability evaluations.
Four-Pillar Framework
The report is structured around the RISE values — Respect, Integrity, Stewardship, and Excellence — that guide decision-making across processing floors, family farms, and product-development operations. "Responsibility is built every day, on our processing floors, across our family farms, and in our innovation labs," said Kevin McDaniel, President and CEO of Wayne-Sanderson Farms. "Guided by our RISE values, we are continually raising the bar to care for our animals, conserve natural resources, and deliver exceptional food to the families and communities we serve."
Animal welfare and environmental stewardship are recurring pressure points for foodservice buyers navigating protein sourcing and menu transparency requirements from both regulators and consumers. Wayne-Sanderson's annual reporting cadence gives procurement teams a documented benchmark against which to measure supplier accountability year over year.
Brand Portfolio and Market Position
Wayne-Sanderson Farms markets poultry under a broad portfolio of brands — including SANDERSON FARMS®, NAKED TRUTH®, CHEF'S CRAFT®, and WAYNE FARMS®, among others — spanning commodity, premium, and branded further-processed categories. The company also holds the title of Official Chicken of the Southeastern Conference, a sponsorship that extends its consumer visibility alongside its business-to-business footprint. As the third-largest U.S. poultry producer, its CSR disclosures carry weight across the industry supply chain, influencing standards conversations at both the operator and distributor level.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
