A strong brand, international growth, and a continued focus on giving customers the innovative and delicious products they want helped Tyson Foods take home the 2009 Category Excellence Award in the poultry division from Supermarket News.

Tyson Foods has continued to forge ahead with new products and international expansion, despite a difficult economy.

Our bagged, refrigerated cooked chicken strips, Trimmed and Ready® chicken breast, even-cook chicken breast, and new and revised frozen options add convenience to people’s lives and have helped Tyson Foods stay ahead of the competition.

“We're unique in that the breadth and depth of our portfolio ranges from boneless skinless chicken in a very simple package, raw; to center-of-the-plate, fully cooked and breaded; and pretty much everything in between,” says Wes Morris, group vice president of Consumer Products.

“We're a little more shielded from the economic recession, and our portfolio as a company ranges from private-label bologna all the way to filet mignon. Obviously, we're seeing some changing behavior. But we're in a great position with the number of plants we have to shift that mix quickly and take advantage of those opportunities,” Wes says.

The company’s promotion efforts with well-known chefs, who are frequent faces on television, like Robin Miller, have helped us reach out to the consumers through our online presence.

The magazine noted Tyson Foods’ strength of brand and the assortment of products at a variety of price points as one of the company’s strong points, as well as our continuing international expansion. Continuing to tie into consumer trends was also detailas a strong point of the company.