In a down economy, businesses need to identify cost-savings measures. But there's one thing Willow Tree Poultry Farm President Wally Cekala won't sacrifice: quality.
The Attleboro-based producer of chicken products — perhaps best-known for its deli chicken salad and chicken pot pies — has undergone some major changes in the past few years — including a facility upgrade, the creation of a management team, the addition of new products, a number of green initiatives, and recent expansion into new markets. But there's one thing that hasn't changed.
"I do believe that if you go back and try our chicken salad 20 years ago and tried it today side-by-side, you wouldn't notice a difference," Cekala said. "That's really been our goal. We don't ever want the quality of the product to feel less-than."
The family-owned business began as an egg and poultry farm in the late 1800s, and Cekala's father bought the farm in 1954 after working there. In the 1960s, the company stopped raising poultry and entered the end-processing side of the business, growing into a full-production and retail operation.
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