Empire’s production facility in Mifflintown, PA received USDA Organic certification last year and has been testing both ABF and Organic feeds and growing protocols for the past 18 months. With the completion of its extensive testing and test marketing, Empire is now rolling out these lines nationally.

Empire Kosher’s CEO Greg Rosenbaum stated, "As the nation’s largest producer of Kosher poultry, Empire wants to offer its customers greater choice. As we’ve seen demand for ABF and Organic products grow in the non-Kosher world, we decided to enter these markets with Kosher products. In this way, we provide a one-stop shop for supermarkets and Kosher butchers who need to provide their consumers with the wide range of poultry choices available today. As with all our products, these new products are being produced with consistently high standards of Kashrus, food safety, animal welfare, worker safety and great taste."

Empire’s ABF products will be, in the parlance of the trade, "never, ever", meaning the birds will be fed all vegetarian diets and will never be injected with antibiotics or hormones. Empire’s Organic chicken will be fed only certified, Organically grown vegetarian diets. All of Empire’s poultry products are raised on family owned farms within 75 miles of the Empire plant and are free roaming, allowing the birds to grow naturally.

Being the nation’s only fully integrated producer of Kosher chicken and turkey, Empire has the ability and flexibility to produce regular Kosher, Kosher ABF and Kosher Organic. Empire has its own breeder hens, hatches its own chicken eggs, grows turkeys from day-old poults and owns its own feed mill, thereby allowing it to vary feeds and growing conditions to meet the rigorous standards of regular Kosher and Kosher ABF designations. At the present time, Empire supplements its feeds with specially contracted Organic formulations to meet the standards of the Kosher Organic designation.

Empire has dedicated two growing houses, with a capacity of almost 60,000 chickens per week, to its ABF product line and another growing house, with a capacity of almost 30,000 chickens per week, to its Organic line. This volume accounts for between one third and one half of Empire’s current weekly production.

Empire is also dedicating two-thirds of its non-holiday turkey production to ABF turkeys, or approximately 20,000 per week. For major Jewish holidays and Thanksgiving, Empire will significantly ramp up its ABF turkey production to respond to customer needs.

Kosher consumers in some areas of the country will find Empire Organic poultry on their grocers’ shelves now, while the roll out of ABF product will start now and be complete by Rosh Hashanah. Consumers can let their grocers and butchers know if they want regular Kosher, Kosher Organic or Kosher ABF products.