David Van Hoose was born in Paintsville, Ky. His family moved to Ohio and he grew up on 105 acre poultry, dairy and grain farm. He graduated from Ohio State with a degree in Agriculture and began his career in the poultry industry.

Van Hoose worked for Perdue for seven years. He began as a Broiler Technician, moved to Sales, then to plant manager at Accomac, VA, and then on to grow-out Manager.

He then worked in Maine for Hillcrest as General Manger, then in Arkansas with Valmac Industries as Dardanelle Plant Manager before becoming the Complex Manager.

He worked in Mississippi at B.C. Rogers as General Manager. Van Hoose also worked for Mountaire Farms, first as Complex Manager and then Vice President. He worked with Cargill as General Manager for their Delaware poultry operations. While in Delaware, he served as President of DPI for one year.

Van Hoose started working for Pilgrim's Pride in 1988. He began as Executive President over Processing in 1990 and was promoted to General Manager of their Mexican Operations. In 1995 he became President & General Manager of those operations. In 1998 he relocated to Texas where Pilgrim’s was second in volume in Mexico and had distribution through most of the country and employed approximately 4,000 people.

Van Hoose was promoted to President, CEO & COO of Pilgrims. Pilgrim’s acquired WLR and a further processing plant in Waco, Texas during his tenure. He retired from Pilgrim's in 2003.

He went to work for Case Foods in September 2003 as President and COO until 2009. He was asked back to Case Foods in 2011 where he again worked as President and COO until February 2012. David still holds a seat on the board.

Kevin Phillips, President/COO, Case Farms said “David has been instrumental in the success and growth of Case Farms for over 10 years. He has provided exceptional leadership to our management team and has been a true mentor to me. He is not only a tremendous leader but a remarkable gentleman. Case Farms would not be the company it is today if not for him. He is absolutely worthy of this award.”

 Mike Popowycz, Vice Chairman & CFO of Case Farms stated “David is an outstanding leader and individual. His knowledge of the poultry industry is unsurpassed. David made all the Managers at Case Farms better than we thought we could be. He has the ability to bring out the best in each individual and create a winning team concept. David helped to make Case Farms the successful Company it is today. He is a true friend that is deserving of this award.”

David Van Hoose and his wife, Charlotte, currently live in Georgetown, South Carolina and have 5 children and 10 grandchildren.

The Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Mr. Van Hoose on Wednesday, January 29th at the Annual NPFDA Awards Reception at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta, 5:30-7:30.

Source: NPFDA