History of Herbruck's Poultry Ranch

A Family Business

For decades, the Herbruck family of Michigan has been supplying farm-fresh eggs to major retailers and food service outlets. Today’s business was founded by Harry and Marilyn Herbruck in Ionia County in 1958, and its roots stretch back to the late 1920s, when Harry Herbruck Sr. began an egg delivery company in another part of the state.

Herbruck’s Poultry Ranch is run today by Harry Jr.’s four sons, with their sister as a fellow shareholder. Five members of the fourth generation also work in the business. The company’s flock has grown from 3,000 laying hens in the 1950s to six million today. But its founding principle remains the same:

Do what’s right – for the hens, for employees, for consumers, for the community, and for the earth.

Years of Growth

  • In 1981 Herbruck’s founded Poultry Management Systems, Inc., a technology company that developed and marketed what became the industry standard in environmental control systems. The company was sold in 2009.

  • In 1991, after years of supplying premium-quality shell eggs, Herbruck’s added a breaking facility and began selling whole liquid eggs to the food service industry. 

  • In 1992 Herbruck’s became a franchisee and distributor of Eggland’s Best, Inc. Herbruck’s produces all varieties of Eggland’s Best eggs and distributes them in four states.

  • Herbruck’s began producing organic eggs onsite in 1998 and opened its Green Meadow Organics facility in 2008. 

  • Herbruck’s quickly became one of the largest organic egg producers in the country, with 760,000 organic laying hens today and with plans to grow that number to 1.25 million by 2012.

  • Today organic eggs are the fastest growing segment of the company’s business. Organic eggs and cage-free eggs are distributed nationwide under the Green Meadow brand and in the Midwest under the Eggland’s Best name.

 

Fifty Years and Counting

The company celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2008. Today Herbruck’s Poultry Ranch is the largest egg producer in Michigan and the 13th largest in the United States.