Tyson Foods announced the appointment of Dr. Claudia Coplein to the newly-created role of Chief Medical Officer. Coplein is a physician executive who brings more than 20 years of healthcare experience to the company after holding leadership roles in the insurance, global manufacturing, healthcare and technology fields. Her immediate focus will be assisting the company’s efforts to protect team members during the Covid-19 pandemic, while also working to expand and promote a culture of health, safety and wellness at Tyson.

Tyson Foods announced plans to build new production facilities in China and Thailand, and expand its facility in the Netherlands. The latest expansions, adding over 100,000 metric tons of fully cooked poultry capacity, build on the company’s global growth strategy to become the leader in protein by serving emerging markets and strategic customers.

Tyson Foods announced the European launch of its plant-based protein brand, Raised & Rooted. This is the first expansion of the Raised & Rooted brand outside the U.S., in the brand’s pursuit to be the most loved alternative protein brand in the world.

Donnie King has been named president of Tyson Foods’ poultry business. King has over 35 years of experience working in the poultry business, both domestically and globally. He will once again lead the company’s chicken unit, guiding and mentoring members of its leadership team, including Chad Martin, who will take on the new role of chief operating officer of poultry.  

Tyson Foods announced Dean Banks will succeed Noel White as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), while maintaining the role of President, effective October 3, 2020. White, who led Tyson through a period of unprecedented volatility and uncertainty when he assumed the CEO role in 2018, will remain with Tyson in a new role as Executive Vice Chairman of the board of directors.

As part of its commitment to team member safety and continually evolving efforts to protect workers from COVID-19, Tyson Foods is launching a new, industry-leading monitoring program and expanding its occupational health staff, including a new chief medical officer position.

Tyson Fresh Meats, the beef and pork subsidiary of Tyson Foods, plans to indefinitely suspend operations at its Waterloo, Iowa, pork plant this week. The facility, the company’s largest pork plant, has been running at reduced levels of production due to worker absenteeism, and will stop production mid-week until further notice. The facility’s 2,800 team members will be invited to come to the plant later this week for COVID-19 testing.

Our meat and poultry plants are experiencing varying levels of production impact, due to the planned implementation of additional worker safety precautions and worker absenteeism. For example, out of an abundance of caution, we have suspended operations at our Columbus Junction, Iowa, pork plant this week due to more than two dozen cases of COVID-19 involving team members at the facility. In an effort to minimize the impact on our overall production, we’re diverting the livestock supply originally scheduled for delivery to Columbus Junction to some of our other pork plants in the region.

Tyson Foods will pay approximately $60 million in “thank you” bonuses to 116,000 frontline workers and Tyson truckers in the U.S. who support the company’s operations every day to provide food during the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible team members will receive a $500 bonus, payable during the first week of July. The bonuses are in addition to other company-announced efforts to support workers, plant communities and livestock producers during the global pandemic.

Tyson Foods is committing $13 million to support critical needs in local communities where the company operates in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company announced today. This investment includes $2 million in community grants and more than $11 million worth of products donated by the company since March 11.