After more than 90 years in business, Allen’s Family Foods of Seaford, Delaware, is filing for bankruptcy, done in by skyrocketing corn prices via ethanol manufacturing.

 

Allen’s packs 8 million pounds of poultry a week. But with so much of the nation’s corn going into ethanol production (about 40%), the price of the commodity has soared from $3.50 to $8.50. The steep price increase made it impossible for Allen's, which was founded in 1919, to afford feed for its animals.

 

If the company shuts down, it would mean the loss of 2,273 local jobs and possibly endanger the livelihood of 300 poultry farmers. In addition, there’s the philanthropic support that Allen Family Foods has provided through the years, giving to the local hospital and the Seaford Museum, as well as handing out more than $200,000 in scholarships to high school students.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Allens Bankrupted By Skyrocketing Feed Costs (by John Vogel, American Agriculturist)

Allen's Started 92 Years Ago Family Has Long Record of Generous Support for Local Causes (by Lynn R. Parks, Laurel Star)