Pilgrim's Pride

Pilgrim's Pride

Pilgrim's Pride Corp. nyse|PPC, headquartered in Pittsburg, Texas, is the largest chicken producer in the United States and Puerto Rico and the second-largest chicken producer in Mexico.

Description of firm

Pilgrim's Pride employs approximately 56,000 people with sales of $5.2 billion in 2006 [http://www.news-journal.com/news/content/news/stories/11152006_pilgrim_s_earnings.html] , and have major operations in Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Mexico and Puerto Rico, with other facilities in Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Mississippi and Utah. They process approximately 44 million birds per week resulting in almost 9 billion pounds of product per year, as well as 528 million table eggs. [http://www.pilgrimspride.com/aboutus/]

Pilgrim's Pride products are sold to foodservice, retail and frozen entree customers. The company's primary distribution is through retailers, foodservice distributors and restaurants throughout the United States and Puerto Rico and in the Northern and Central regions of Mexico. Pilgrim's Pride also owns one turkey facility in Pennsylvania and operates a separate distribution wing, known as PFS Distribution.

Pilgrim's traces its origins to a feed store opened in 1946 in Pittsburg, Texas by Lonnie "Bo" Pilgrim and his older brother, Aubrey. The brothers were known to give away free chicks with the bags of feed they sold, thereby expanding their business. Bo Pilgrim, wearing traditional Pilgrim dress, with a pet chicken named "Henrietta" under his arm, is featured in Pilgrim's Pride advertisements. Today, Pilgrim's Pride is vertically integrated, meaning the company has its own divisions for every process from "egg to table."

Pilgrim's Pride is a supplier of Kentucky Fried Chicken and was named its "supplier of the year" in 1997. Other customers include Wal-Mart, Publix and Wendy's. Pierce Chicken (formerly of ConAgra Foods and Hester Industries) is a division of Pilgrim's Pride. Pierce Chicken is best known for its brand-name Wing Dings, Wing Zings, and various other prepared food products.

News events in the 2000s

On October 12, 2002, Pilgrim's Pride recalled 27.4 million pounds of sliced deli poultry after finding a strain of Listeria monocytogenes in the drain of one of their facilities. It was the largest food recall in the US at the time. The outbreak killed 7 people, sickened 46, and caused 3 miscarriages. [http://www.fsis.usda.gov/oa/recalls/prelease/pr090-2002.htm] [http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/news/ng.asp?id=28903-us-inspector-blames] [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9A02E3DF123FF933A05753C1A9649C8B63 EATING WELL; Listeria Thrives in a Political Hotbed - New York Times ] ]

In May 2004, Pilgrim's Pride experienced an outbreak of avian influenza in Hopkins County in northeast Texas. 24,000 breeder hens were destroyed to contain the outbreak. [http://www.dec.state.ak.us/eh/vet/alerts.htm]

On July 20, 2004, PETA released a video claiming to show cruelty to chickens at Pilgrim's Pride. The video showed Pilgrim Pride employees and a member of PETA kicking, jumping, throwing, and spitting on live chickens. Pilgrim's Pride held an investigation and fired eleven employees and has provided ongoing animal welfare training to its work force, however, none of the employees involved in the incident faced any criminal charges. [http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/01/11/chicken.cruelty.ap/index.html]

Pilgrim's is also is a supplier of cattle feed to various ranching operations in East Texas. The supply of cattle feed was criticized because of the alleged use of "inedible" chicken parts being used for protein content. This is a common practice in the poultry industry known as protein conversion, so as to profit from all parts of the bird. Protein conversion uses techniques to convert inedible parts of the animal, such as keratin in feathers and skin, into digestible protein to be used for livestock and pet food.

On December 4, 2006 Pilgrim's Pride announced the successful acquisition [http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=68228&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=938229&highlight=] of Gold Kist (formerly the third largest chicken company) for $21.00 a share. Although there was initial resistance from Gold Kist, the board members of both companies voted unanimously to combine the two companies.

On December 17, 2007, Pilgrim's Pride's CEO, O.B. Goolsby, Jr. died after suffering a stroke while on a hunting trip in South Texas with customers.

On april, 2008, federal officials in a biggest raid arrest 400 employees at plants in Arkansas, Texas, Tenesse, Florida, And Virginia, after a year long investigation, all defendants were found with misused social security numbers. [Cox News Service]

References

External links

* [http://www.pilgrimspride.com/ Pilgrim's Pride Corp. company website]
* [http://www.poultry.com/ Pilgrim's Pride Pierce Chicken division website]
* [http://www.pfsdistribution.com/ PFS Distribution company website]
* [http://www.goldkist.com/ Gold Kist website]
* http://www.chooseveg.com/pilgrims-pride.asp [http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUSN1736015720071217 Reuters Report of O.B. Goolsby Jr.'s death]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Pilgrim's Pride — quartier général historique de Pittsburg, Texas. Pilgrim s Pride, aujourd hui Pilgrim s Corp., est une entreprise américaine du secteur agroalimentaire fondée en 1946, première productrice de poulet aux États Unis, seconde au Mexique. Le quartier …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Lonnie "Bo" Pilgrim — is the founder, chairman, and principal owner of Pilgrim s Pride, the largest chicken producer in the United States. Pilgrim founded Pilgrim s Pride when he opened a feed store in 1946 in Pittsburg, Texas, with his older brother, Aubrey.In 1989,… …   Wikipedia

  • The Pilgrim's Progress — For the Kula Shaker album, see Pilgrims Progress (album). The Pilgrim s Progress   …   Wikipedia

  • People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — PETA redirects here. For other uses, see Peta (disambiguation). Founder(s) Ingrid Newkirk and Alex Pacheco …   Wikipedia

  • Douglas, Georgia — City of Douglas, Georgia   City   Motto: Working Together to Serve You Better …   Wikipedia

  • Choudrant, Louisiana — Coordinates: 32°31′49″N 92°30′45″W / 32.53028°N 92.5125°W / 32.53028; 92.5125 …   Wikipedia

  • Querétaro, Querétaro — Infobox Settlement name = Querétaro official name = settlement type = native name = nickname = motto = imagesize = image caption = The city s old aquaduct image image shield = image image shield = mapsize = 200px map caption = Location of… …   Wikipedia

  • American bass viol — The American bass viol, also called a church bass or Yankee bass viol, is a type of bowed string instrument which enjoyed popularity in early 19th century New England for use in aiding Puritan congregational singers. In its time of common use,… …   Wikipedia

  • JBS Friboi — Pour les articles homonymes, voir JBS. JBS S.A. Création 1953 Fondateurs José Batista Sobrinho …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Arkansas — This article is about the U.S. state of Arkansas. For the river, see Arkansas River. For other uses, see Arkansas (disambiguation). State of Arkansas …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”