PHOENIX — The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) today recognized Metzer Farms, a hatchery based in Gonzales, CA, with a second location in Memphis, TN.

Metzer Farms received the Southern Area Shipping and eCommerce Innovation Award during the final day of the National Postal Forum, the largest annual trade show in the country for the mailing industry, held this year in Phoenix. It was among 12 companies recognized for mailing industry innovation and industry best practices nationwide by the U.S. Postal Service.

Metzer Farms is a duck, goose, guinea and chicken hatchery, and is one of the nation’s largest suppliers of day-old waterfowl. Most of the day-old poultry in the United States are mailed, which allows hatcheries to service customers in every state of the nation. Some are trucked, but the vast majority of day-old poultry are flown by FedEx for the Postal Service. Metzer Farms recently built a second hatchery in Memphis, TN, so they could insert their birds into the mailstream there. This will reduce travel time and stress on the birds and allow Metzer Farms to meet important timelines required by their customers.

The awards were presented to customers in three categories: the Shipping and eCommerce Innovation Award, the Mailing and Digital Innovation Award and the Innovation and Growth Award.

The Shipping and eCommerce Innovation Award honors customers who have used industry best practices to implement new technologies to maximize efficiencies, and to convert requests for purchase and fulfillment into package volume reflecting significant business results. The Mailing and Digital Innovation Award recognizes customers who demonstrate creativity by finding new methods to use mail to drive significant business results and mail growth. The Innovation and Growth Award recognizes companies that have taken steps to position themselves for significant growth with the U.S. Postal Service as their partner. They have employed innovative strategies or operational improvements to rapidly grow and deliver increased value and business results.

There were winners in each of the Postal Service’s four geographic areas across the nation: Atlantic, Central, Southern and WestPac.

The other Shipping and eCommerce Innovation Award winners were:

Atlantic: BariatricPal, Inwood NY
Central: LovelySkin, Omaha, NE
WestPac: eBay, San Jose, CA

The Mailing and Digital Innovation Award winners were:

Atlantic: UNTUCKit, New York City
Central: KeyBank, Cleveland
Southern: DirectMail.io, Mandeville, LA
WestPac: Best Friends Animal Society, Salt Lake City

The Innovation and Growth Award winners were:

Central: EVEREVE, Edina, MN
Southern: Virtuoso, Fort Worth, TX
WestPac: Poshmark, Redwood City, CA

The National Postal Forum and the United States Postal Service congratulate all of the award winners. USPS appreciates the innovation and continued partnerships with our mailers and their commitment to increasing the value of the U.S. Mail.

The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

###