Delta
Pride Catfish
names Steve Osso President & CEO
Company will continue its focus on quality,
customer service
Delta Pride Catfish, Inc., has named Steve Osso as president
and chief executive officer. Osso, who will continue his
duties as chief financial officer, succeeds Bill Allen,
who is leaving Delta Pride after four years as president
and CEO.
Osso joined the company in 2000 from another catfish processing
company, where he served as controller and later as interim
president.
A farmer-owned cooperative, Delta Pride employs more than
500 and processes more than 70 million pounds of catfish
a year.
Recent renovations and installation of new equipment at
the company’s Indianola main processing plant have
positioned Delta Pride to develop modern operational efficiencies
necessary to compete in today’s price-conscious industry.
“Steve’s strength is in operations and financial
management,” says Tom Roberson, board chairman. “Bill
Allen brought a new marketing vision and motivation to Delta
Pride four years ago, and worked with our sales team to
regain our position as the premium catfish brand. He also
served as the driving force in the $8 million renovation
of our main plant.
“Delta Pride is now moving toward putting those changes
to work for us, especially using our new equipment and plant
design to lower costs and further improve product quality.”
With its expansion to more than 200,000 square feet of processing
space, Delta Pride has separated its primary and secondary
processing functions, resulting in a sanitized environment
for filleting, chilling and packaging products. Most importantly,
capacity has been increased by 25 percent in a single shift.
New equipment includes 11 Baader 148 heading and evisceration
machines, 10 Baader 194 filleting machines, and two robotic
Accu-feeders to ensure precise grading of fish.
“Delta Pride has made tremendous progress in the last
few years and we’ll continue on that course,”
said Osso. “Our goal remains the same - to continue
providing our customers a quality product supported by excellent
service.
“Completion of our renovation makes us better able
to meet that goal and at the same time allows us to institute
cost-saving measures that will keep us a strong, viable
company.”
Allen remains a loyal supporter of Delta Pride and its employees.
“The catfish industry owes so much to Delta Pride,”
he said. “This company helped build the industry and
bring a new image to catfish as a menu item.
“I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished
here and excited about what Steve and his staff can achieve
in the future.”
Delta Pride delivers to U.S. and international customers
a variety of natural, breaded and marinated catfish products,
and recently introduced Country Crisp Catfish Strips, a
bakeable, breaded product with country-style seasoning.
The company’s 115 shareholders are catfish farmers
who own more than 60,000 acres of catfish production ponds
and produce more than 200 million pounds of live catfish
each year. Delta Pride is the only catfish processor in
the nation operating under full-time USDC inspection at
its own request. The largest employer in Sunflower County,
the company has a total economic impact on the region of
$170 million annually. For more information, visit www.deltapride.com.
DBJ
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