Meat + Poultry - July 2008 - 104

Degree of faith
MBA moves forward under new leadership
By Steve Bjerklie
meatpoultry@sosland.com

rom its start in 1998, MBA Poultry
in Waverly, Neb., was intractable
from the person and beliefs of
founder Mark Haskins. The name of the
company derives from the first initials
of his three children - Mark Jr., Bridget
and Amber. "FAMILY," the firm's Web
site declares with the first of a threeword description of corporate identity.
It then broadcasts Haskins' Christian
faith: "FAITH," the site shouts. "To God
be the Glory!"
The next word, "FUTURE," appears
- but there is no fanfare or big claim
attached to this word. The site's front
page still features a mission statement
from Haskins -
"MBA Poultry is
dedicated to producing the safest,
highest quality of
fresh chicken in
the United States
while exemplifying excellence in
Haskins
all aspects of customer service..." etc. etc. - and a photo
of the founder appears over his signature
and the titles of CEO and president. But,
in fact, Mark Haskins hasn't been with the
company he named for his children since
104

MEAT&POULTRY

July 2008

well before the end of last year.
Kevin Siebert now holds the title of
president of MBA Poultry, and he was
there when Haskins departed and he
knows exactly why Haskins left. "He
retired," Siebert says. "It was a plan he
developed earlier in 2007 and it became
effective in October" (Published news
reports state Haskins officially retired
Dec. 31, 2007).
Siebert, who holds a law degree from
the Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln, has been
associated with MBA since 2000, arriving as part of an investment group.
Though Haskins was always the visible
figurehead of the company, he was, in
fact, a minority partner, according to
Siebert, who emphasizes: "Clearly, the
management team has not changed."
Haskins, 57, could not be reached for
this article. He is reportedly involved in
a new broiler production venture in Jamaica and considering mission work in
Haiti. In January of this year he told the
Lincoln Journal Star: "I have felt a huge
pivot in my life coming and I felt directed by the Lord to do something else. It's
really as simple as that." As for industry
speculation about his departure from the
company he founded, Haskins told the
newspaper, "There are always going to

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be rumors, no matter what you do in life,
especially if you're successful. And the
rumors have no validity to them."

Growth from the core
MBA got its start when Haskins and
some partners bought an old Campbell
Soup Co. plant in Tecumseh, Neb., for
less than $10 million in 1998 and converted it to a poultry processing operation. But production and processing difficulties forced the company into Chapter
11 just two years later. An Omaha investment consortium called Bird Watchers
acquired the firm in bankruptcy court.
Siebert, who was part of Bird Watchers, says MBA's future will grow from its
core product: CO2-stunned, air-chilled
chicken. "Air-chill was the differentiation
point from the start. In fact, we were the
first commercial-size U.S. poultry company to do air-chill," he comments, adding
that air-chilling, which is slowly gaining
adherents in other poultry companies,
offers several benefits over conventional
water-chilled birds. "For one thing, the
birds are kept separated on shackles in
an air-chill system. They don't touch
each other, so there's no cross-contamination from bird to bird. In a water chill,
all the carcasses are thrown together in a

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Meat + Poultry - July 2008

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