Holly Poultry has opened an 80,000-square-foot production facility in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, purpose-built for its retail business and expected to add 140 net new jobs as the company scales two consumer brands and an expanding private-label portfolio.
The plant marks a strategic pivot for a company that has supplied foodservice customers for more than 30 years. Retail demand across its Easy Street and One Fine Chicken lines — alongside growing co-manufacturing commitments — has outpaced capacity at existing operations, making a dedicated facility the critical next step.
The Numbers
Easy Street, which offers No Antibiotics Ever fresh chicken thighs that arrive pre-diced and dry-seasoned in flavors such as Korean BBQ, Shawarma, Peruvian, Street Taco and Chili Crisp, is averaging more than 30 units per store per week with a three- to four-flavor set at top-performing retail accounts. The brand is currently stocked at Giant Food, The Giant Company, Harris Teeter, ShopRite, Shaw's and Hannaford. One Fine Chicken targets the everyday poultry aisle at price points below traditional national brands, positioning it as a volume driver rather than a premium play.
"We saw an opportunity to bring more to the fresh chicken case, and the response from retailers and consumers has reinforced that," said Zach Fine, CEO of Holly Poultry. "This facility is a major investment in that opportunity. It gives us the capacity to serve the customers choosing our products today while creating room to expand into new retailers, build new private-label partnerships and keep pushing what fresh poultry can be."
Why It Matters
The investment lands at a moment when fresh poultry is under intensifying competitive pressure. Branded operators are racing to differentiate the category with convenience-oriented formats — pre-cut, pre-seasoned, minimal-prep — as retailers seek higher-margin alternatives to commodity chicken. Easy Street's seven-minute cook claim and flavor-forward positioning slot it directly into the meal-kit adjacency space without the subscription friction, a format that has drawn increased shelf attention from major grocery chains in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
Private-label production adds another dimension. As grocers push house-brand programs across protein, a processor with dedicated retail infrastructure can win both branded and unbranded placements — a dual-channel model that hedges against the promotional volatility common in national-brand poultry. For operators tracking supply-chain consolidation in protein, Holly Poultry's move illustrates how mid-size regional processors are carving defensible positions by combining brand equity with white-label scale.
What's Next
Amy Gowan, president and CEO of the Anne Arundel Economic Development Corporation, framed the plant as a signal for Maryland's broader manufacturing base: "This investment strengthens our local manufacturing economy, creates meaningful job opportunities and reinforces the region's role in the continued growth of Maryland's food industry." The new operation is designed to accelerate new-product development cycles for both branded and private-label customers, with additional distribution partnerships anticipated as capacity comes fully online.
For food and beverage industry observers tracking the evolution of the fresh poultry case, Holly Poultry's facility commitment suggests the convenience-protein subcategory retains sufficient velocity to justify significant capital expenditure — a data point that will register across retail grocery channel strategy discussions heading into 2027 planning cycles. Food & Beverage Magazine has previously covered the accelerating innovation pipeline across fresh perimeter protein.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
