888.828.8837 Contact Us

Our Mission:

Enrich Lives

At Butterball® Farms, we believe flavor is more than just taste. It’s an experience that enriches and elevates every moment. It’s a connection. It’s a memory. It’s a shared experience.

Just as a single bite can transport you back to a cherished memory or the joy of discovering a new favorite flavor, our commitment to our customers, employees, and community ensures that our impact extends far beyond the plate, one delicious bite at a time.

Talk To Our Team
Butterball Farms Enrich Lives video

Flavor is our Passion.
Impact is our Purpose.

To “Enrich Lives” means creating positive change for our customers, our team members, and the communities we’re part of. It shows up in how we lead, how we listen, how we invest in people, and how we build relationships that last. Impact is not something we talk about — it’s something we practice every day.

Our Guiding Principles

How We Live Our Mission

Our Guiding Principles are the foundation of how we work, serve, and lead:

01

Have integrity in all interactions

02

Anticipate and address customer needs

03

Diligently pursue excellence

04

Promote continuous learning and innovation

05

Make the workplace an enjoyable and integrated part of life

06

Communicate openly and honestly to promote effective teamwork

Life at Butterball Farms video
CEO Mark Peters in conversation with Butterball Farms team members
Butterball Farms team members together on the production floor
Butterball Farms production facility team at work

Leadership Rooted in Purpose

Purpose starts with leadership.

At Butterball® Farms, our culture reflects a belief that meaningful work and meaningful lives go hand in hand.

CEO Mark Peters leads with a deep commitment to people, community, and opportunity. His approach has helped shape a workplace grounded in support, shared responsibility, and long-term thinking. That mindset extends across the organization and informs how we invest in our teams and the communities around us.

Learn About Our Culture
Butterball Farms team member reviewing community partnership plans with a chef partner

Community Impact in Action

We believe businesses can play a meaningful role in strengthening communities. Butterball® Farms partners with organizations that share a commitment to people, opportunity, and long-term impact.

Our community involvement focuses on workforce stability, sustainability, education, and access to resources that help individuals and families thrive.

The SOURCE — a book by Mark Peters

The SOURCE: Connecting People & Resources

Founded in 2003 by our CEO, Mark Peters, The SOURCE was created to support employees navigating challenges in their personal lives that can affect stability at work. By removing barriers and connecting people with the right resources, The SOURCE helps individuals stay employed, support their families, and build stronger futures.

The organization partners with businesses, nonprofits, and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to strengthen the workforce and expand opportunity across West Michigan and beyond.

In 2020, Mark published a book on the founding of The SOURCE called The SOURCE: Using the Power of Collaboration to Stabilize Your Workforce and Impact Your Community. In it, Peters shares his personal story and what led him to found the organization, as well as a clear, practical, successful, and repeatable path other enterprises can take to serve their communities.

The SOURCE is available on both Amazon or Audible.

The Retention Trap — a book by Mark Peters

The Retention Trap: Investing in People and Workplaces

Butterball Farms believes retention is about growth, not just keeping people in place. That belief is reflected in The Retention Trap: Stop Measuring Turnover, Start Measuring Talent Investment, a book by Mark Peters that shares a people-centered approach to building engaged, stable teams.

Peters draws on more than 20 years of leadership at Butterball Farms to challenge an outdated mindset about workforce engagement and turnover. He offers a fresh, human-centered framework for how companies can view retention not just as keeping people, but as growing them.

The Retention Trap is available both on Amazon and Audible.

Team members tending herbs and vegetables in the Butterball Farms community garden

The Butterball Farms Community Garden

The garden is a beautiful space for producing real food for our employees. We have herbs, vegetables, and flowers—all cared for by team members who volunteer their time to keep them growing strong. It’s part of our daily life at Butterball, and one of the many ways we stay rooted in purpose and in people, in the place we work.

Expanding Opportunity Through Partnership

Butterball Farms supports initiatives that focus on inclusion, access, and community strength, including:

30/2/2

30/2/2 is an initiative managed through the office of Butterball Farms’ CEO. Its purpose is to engage with employers and community partners to encourage them to consider expanding their talent pool by hiring those touched by the criminal justice system. Using their voices as enterprise and community leaders, they advocate, educate, and encourage other enterprises in the community to hire from the returning citizen population.

Thrive + Prosper

Thrive + Prosper is a collective of community leaders committed to making Grand Rapids a better place to live. Mark Peters is proud to be part of this movement and its mission to connect changemakers with resources that drive generational impact. By partnering with Thrive + Prosper, organizations contribute to a shared vision of thriving communities through innovation, economic mobility, and a collective love for the city.

The Potter’s House School and Scholarship

The Potter’s House is an innovative school in a multicultural, urban setting near our headquarters that provides solid Christian education for a broad range of children who might not ordinarily have the opportunity to attend a faith-based school. Each year, Butterball Farms awards a scholarship to a graduating senior of The Potter’s House School in the amount of $10,000. We also continuously support the school through volunteer experiences.
Volunteers supporting literacy programs at The Literacy Center of West Michigan

The Literacy Center of West Michigan

The mission of The Literacy Center of West Michigan is to “bring about a just and vibrant West Michigan through the power of literacy.” Butterball Farms has been a partner of the organization for many years and continues to support the mission of the organization.

Over the years, Butterball has had the opportunity and privilege to work with a variety of West Michigan charities and community programs, including Wedgwood Christian Services, Schools for Sierra Leone, ICCF, and the Acton Institute.

image

Our Mission

Bringing flavor. Enriching lives.

Since 1956.

Two generations. One building. Hundreds of employees who own the company they work for. Butterball Farms has been making specialty butter and flavor in GrandRapids since 1956, and the work has always come back to the same idea: enrich the meal, enrich the lives behind it.

Let's Create Something
Meaningful Together

When you choose Butterball® Farms, you're partnering with a company committed to people, purpose, and positive impact. If you'd like to learn more about our mission, our team is here to help.

Talk to Our Team