History
The name Butterball was originally registered as trademark #378,438 on June 11, 1940, by Ada Walker of Wyoming, Ohio. Leo Peters purchased the trademark in February 1951. Leo Peters licensed the name to Swift and Co. for 10 years before selling it in the 60's. Peters sold the name "Butterball" to Swift, which was acquired by ConAgra in 1990.
Leo Peters retained rights to use the name Butterball Farms for his butter products and the company operates today as Butterball Farms, Inc., producing and marketing shaped butter products.
In October 2006, ConAgra's Butterball branded turkey business was sold to North Carolina based Carolina Turkeys, — making Carolina Turkey the largest turkey producer in the United States. The company, located southeast of Raleigh, NC in Mount Olive, North Carolina on the Wayne and Duplin county line, subsequently renamed itself Butterball LLC.
In 2008, the company moved its headquarters to a new $12 million building in Greenfield North off Interstate 40 in Garner, North Carolina. The headquarters has a "customer experience center" with a special kitchen for promotional demonstrations.
Smithfield offered $200 million to Maxwell Farms for the portion of Butterball that Smithfield did not own. Chief executive C. Larry Pope said at that time that he hoped Maxwell Farms would spend more on the company's facilities and marketing. A decision had to be made whether to buy Maxwell's share or sell Smithfield's. On September 10, 2010, Smithfield announced the sale of its 49 percent share of Butterball for an estimated $175 million. Maxwell Farms will sell 50 percent of Butterball to Seaboard Corp.
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