WEST LIBERTY, IOWA – West Liberty Foods LLC recently announced that effective May 31, Ed Garrett will retire as chief executive officer of the company.

Garrett began at West Liberty in 1999 as the vice president of operations. In 2004, he received the promotion to president and CEO. 

“Ed has been instrumental for West Liberty Foods,” said Paul Hill, chairman of the board. “Ed’s leadership has allowed West Liberty Foods to grow into the organization we are today. We thank Ed for his long-standing commitment to our organization and wish him the very best that retirement life has to offer.”

During his tenure, Garrett led West Liberty to various awards including the Dupont Qualicon Food Quality Award in 2008, Subway’s Vendor of the Year in 2012 and Refrigerated & Frozen Foods’ Processor of the Year in 2017. He also received multiple leadership awards in 2007 and 2013. 

“My time spent with the West Liberty Foods family has been so rewarding,” Garrett said. “I’ve spent 23 years surrounded by the hardest working people in the industry, and I look forward to seeing our next generation of leadership succeed just the same.”

Since Garrett took over, the meat company expanded into three additional locations in Iowa, Utah and Illinois, growing from 820 to 2,700 workers. Under Garrett, West Liberty also achieved landfill-free status, meaning less than 1% of its total waste ends up in landfills.