Butterball
Twenty years ago, 80% of Butterball’s revenue came from Thanksgiving. Today? Just 25% of a $1.5B business. 1 billion pounds of turkey processed annually. One bad year wipes out the business. But the real challenge wasn’t the risk — it was the economics. Facilities and workers cost money 365 days a year. 80% of annual revenue came in 30 days of the year. To grow, Butterball had to keep the system productive the other 11 months.
That required two moves:
1.Make Thanksgiving predictable enough to anchor the business.
2. Add products that run through the same facilities.
Ground turkey for everyday meals → Deli meats and breakfast items → Foodservice supply for restaurants and schools. Same plants. Same birds. New revenue. They still ship 15 million whole turkeys every November. But Thanksgiving dropped from 80% to 25% of revenue. That’s how you get to a $1.5B business that runs 12 months a year, not just one.