Pilgrim’s Pride to Invest $190 Million in Improving Feed Production and Growing Brands

17 Feb 2016 ---. US poultry company Pilgrim’s Pride is to invest $190 million in growing its brands through improved feed production and other investments with the promise of creating 150 jobs.

The investment will be used to expand production of its Pilgrim’s Pierce Chicken brand as well as to “enhance growth with key customers”.

In particular, it will target investment in feed production, fresh chicken and prepared foods.

Bill Lovette, president and chief executive of Pilgrim’s Pride, said: “We believe one of our competitive advantages is the valued partnership we provide to key customers.”

“Our cash flow reinvestment plan will present opportunities for our customers to accelerate sales, improve profitability and grow their businesses. Importantly, this effort redirects cash flow back into an area of core business strength in order to maximise return on capital and enhance shareholder value.”

Strategic investments include

• An $18 million investment at a Pilgrim's case ready facility to streamline deboning and packaging processes.
• A $25 million investment at the Pilgrim's Moorefield, West Virginia, prepared foods facility to enhance existing fully cooked chicken lines and add an additional line to meet growth demands for the Pierce Chicken brand.
• A $35 million investment to acquire property and construct a new feed mill in Nashville, Arkansas, to lower feed costs, enhance feed conversion and improve live poultry performance.
•    A $20 million investment at the Pilgrim's Mayfield, Kentucky, poultry complex to reengineer the facility to improve its value-added product mix in alignment with the needs of a key customer. The project will result in the addition of approximately 150 new jobs in 2016. 

Pilgrim’s Pride, whose biggest shareholder is Brazil’s meat processing company JBS, operates chicken processing plants and prepared-foods facilities in the US, Puerto Rico and Mexico.

Fabio Sandri, chief finance officer, said: “Our strategy remains to explore every opportunity at our disposal to grow our business and create shareholder value.”