Pilgrim’s Pride plans $190m investment in chicken processing plants in US

JBS subsidiary Pilgrim’s Pride is planning to invest $190m to bolster efficiencies of its chicken processing plants across the US.

The plan is intended to bolster growth with core customers as well as production of its Pierce Chicken brand.

The company plans to spend the capital in feed production, fresh chicken, and prepared foods, including case ready.

According to the cash-flow reinvestment plan, the firm intends to invest $18m at its case ready facility to streamline deboning and packaging processes.

Around $25m investment would be allocated for its Moorefield, West Virginia, prepared foods facility to bolster existing completely cooked chicken lines and add an additional line to meet growing demand for the Pierce Chicken brand.

A $35m investment will be used to acquire property and construct a new feed mill in Nashville, Arkansas, in order to reduce feed costs and enhance feed conversion.

The company will make a $20m investment at its Mayfield, Kentucky, poultry complex to re-engineer the facility to boost its value-added product mix in line with the requirements of a key customer. This will lead to creation of approximately 150 new jobs this year.

Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation CFO Fabio Sandri said: "We are excited to have the opportunity to leverage our strong balance sheet to reinvest into our company.

"Our strategy remains to explore every opportunity at our disposal to grow our business and create shareholder value. Today’s announcement reinforces Pilgrim’s commitment to operational excellence, sustainable growth and margin creation."

The $190m investment plan was initiated in the fourth quarter of 2015.

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Image: Pilgrim’s Pride plans to make capital investment in fresh chicken, feed production and prepared foods. Photo: courtesy of Apolonia/freedigitalphotos.