Allen Harim promotes new CEO from within

Allen Harim has replaced its CEO of less than three years, Steven Evans, by promoting Joe Moran to the chief executive role at the Seaford-based poultry integrator.

Moran had been the poultry company's executive director since November 2015, when Allen Harim hired him away from a chief operating officer role at another Delaware poultry firm, Mountaire Farms. The company in a statement said Moran will oversee "all aspects of the company’s operations, including growout, production, sales and marketing, finance and human resources."

The private company, which is owned by the South Korean corporation Harim Group, had not previously announced a plan to remove Evans as CEO. He had been hired in September 2013, moving from a senior vice president of sales role at Perdue Farms of Salisbury, Maryland. The news release about Moran's appointment said Evans "has elected to pursue another opportunity in the industry."

Allen Harim ranks 21st in poultry production capacity among U.S. chicken companies, according to industry figures. The company is smaller than Delmarva-based competitors Perdue and Mountaire, but it has grown in recent years. It employed 1,400 people in 2013 and employs 1,800 workers today, not counting the 230 contracted farmers who raise the company's chickens.

STORY: Allen Harim nixes planned Millsboro processing plant 

"Mr. Moran has been responsible for efficiently and effectively managing both our growout and production operations while spearheading major upgrades at our Harbeson, Delaware, facility," said Hong-Kuk Kim, Harim Group's chairman, in a statement.

In early 2013, Allen Harim announced plans to convert a former pickle plant near Millsboro into a new, modern processing plant for chicken. The company predicted it would create 700 new jobs in the process. Two lawsuits, including one filed by nearby residents, challenged whether state and county regulators had done enough environmental reviews of the company's plans.

Both suits were eventually decided in Allen Harim's favor; nevertheless, in October 2015, the company announced it would no longer pursue approvals to cut and package chicken on the property. "We have concluded that our best course of action in Millsboro is to not process live chickens," Evans said in a statement at the time.

In an interview, Moran said the company remains focused on reducing antibiotic use, and touted a move announced this spring toward all-vegetarian feed for its chickens. "Everybody seems to want to eat healthier, and poultry is certainly a part of that diet," Moran said.

He also said he met with residents concerned about environmental and traffic issues flowing from the company's plans to double production at its Harbeson processing plant. State regulators have signed off on the plans but the company continues to meet with residents' groups over the expansion.

"No matter what business you're in, you need to be a good neighbor," Moran said.

Contact James Fisher at (302) 983-6772, on Twitter @JamesFisherTNJ or jfisher@delawareonline.com.