Pet Food Processing - March 2023 - 24

PROCESSOR PROFILE
THE SIMMONS' STORY
Simmons' campus
in Emporia consists
of the Can plant
and Flex plant,
which together
employ 1,500
people in full- and
part-time positions.
Simmons Pet Food
ly challenged and looking for better and quicker ways to
be able to move from one formulation to the next. "
Like all manufacturers, Simmons faced its share of
obstacles during the last few years since COVID-19 hit.
First production stalled during the pandemic, followed
by supply chain disruptions and now economic inflation.
" The last two years have been very challenging, but
I think we're doing an exceptional job, " Salmon said.
" Why? We're constantly talking to other companies, focusing
on demand-driven forecasting.
" And I think we have done a tremendous job of staying
ahead of the labor shortage problem. We have made
substantial investments in our team members with salary
and benefits, such as our own care clinics for employees
and their families. "
The company has also invested heavily in automation
to help ease the labor shortage stress. There will be more
automation in the packaging areas of the Can and Flex
Emporia plants, as well as in the new distribution center
in Edgerton.
" We've invested quite a bit on automation, however,
we've been able to do that as we've grown, so it hasn't
driven any employee cuts or layoffs, " Salmon explained.
" It's playing a critical role in our company-wide expansions.
Most of our automation is just now getting in
place or being put in place over the next 12 months. "
Simmons Pet Food's recent $500 million investment
into its production capacity is a corporate vote of confidence
that the company will be able to maintain its foothold
as the leader in wet pet food production, with over
1.4 million square feet of manufacturing space, more
than 2,000 employees and one common mission leading
the way.
" We love pets. Our passion for pets is why we have millions
of square feet of production and new capabilities, "
Salmon said. " We are very proud of our network, our capabilities,
of our people - why we're here is to bring the
people and pets we love together through food. "
24 PET FOOD PROCESSING | March 2023 | www.petfoodprocessing.net
The Simmons Foods family of companies has
been family-owned and led for more than 70
years. The Simmons Foods umbrella now
covers Simmons Prepared Foods, specializing
in farm-to-fork chicken; Simmons Animal
Nutrition, featuring proteins, fats and meals
for pet food; and Simmons Pet Food, which
produces wet pet food at four locations in the
United States and Canada.
It all began in 1949 when Bill Simmons
started a small poultry company in Decatur,
Ark. By 1952, the company built its second
plant and company headquarters in Siloam
Springs, Ark. During the '60s, the company
continued its growth of further-processed and
value-added poultry products.
The family's first foray into the pet food
market was in 1961 when it started producing
Bolo dog food. By 1980, the company
partnered with Sam Walton to develop and
produce Ol' Roy dog food for Walmart.
During its continued growth through the
'70s, '80s and '90s, the second and third
generations of the Simmons family joined
the ranks - Mark Simmons was elected
president after the death of his father in 1974
and his son, Todd, joined the company as
an hourly team member in the early 1990s.
Todd Simmons ultimately took over as chief
executive officer in December 2012. Today,
Mark Simmons remains chairman of the board,
and his daughter Sarah is vice chair.
During the '90s, Simmons Foods switched
its focus from producing its own consumer
brands to concentrating on business-tobusiness
customers.
PFP
The company marked its true entrance into
the pet food arena in 2010 with its acquisition
of Menu Foods and its pet food facilities in
Emporia, Kan., and Streetsville, Ontario. With
these facilities, the company was able to
solidify its Simmons Pet Food subsidiary and
move on to become the market leader it is
today. The pet food business expanded further
in 2019 with the construction of a new flexible
packaging facility next door to its existing plant
in Emporia and the opening of a state-of-theart
canning facility in Dubuque, Iowa, in 2021.
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Pet Food Processing - March 2023

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