Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation, which was incorporated in Texas in 1968
and reincorporated in Delaware in 1986, is the successor to a partnership founded
in 1946 as a retail feed store. JBS S.A., through its indirect wholly-owned
subsidiaries (together, “JBS”) beneficially owns 76.7% of our outstanding
common stock. We are one of the largest chicken producers in the world with
operations in the United States (“U.S.”), Mexico and Puerto Rico.
We are primarily engaged in the production, processing, marketing and distribution
of fresh, frozen and value-added chicken products to retailers, distributors
and foodservice operators. We offer a wide range of products to our customers
through strong national and international distribution channels. Pilgrims fresh
chicken products consist of refrigerated (non-frozen) whole chickens, whole
cut-up chickens and selected chicken parts that are either marinated or non-marinated.
The Companys prepared chicken products include fully cooked, ready-to-cook
and individually frozen chicken parts, strips, nuggets and patties, some of
which are either breaded or non-breaded and either marinated or non-marinated.
We market our balanced portfolio of fresh, prepared and value-added chicken
products to a diverse set of over 5,000 customers across the U.S., Mexico and
in approximately 90 other countries, with no single customer accounting for
more than 10% of total sales. We have become a valuable partner to our customers
and a recognized industry leader by consistently providing high-quality products
and services designed to meet their needs and enhance their business. Our sales
efforts are largely targeted towards the foodservice industry, principally chain
restaurants and food processors such as Chick-fil-A® and Yum! Brands®,
distributors such as US Foods and Sysco® and retail customers, including
grocery store chains and wholesale clubs such as Kroger®, Wal-Mart®,
Costco®, Publix®, Albertsons®, H-E-B® and Sam’s Club®.
As a vertically integrated company, we control every phase of the production
process, which helps us better manage food safety and quality, as well as more
effectively control margins and improve customer service. We operate feed mills,
hatcheries, processing plants and distribution centers in 12 U.S. states, Puerto
Rico and Mexico. Our plants are strategically located to ensure that customers
timely receive fresh products. With our global network of approximately 4,130
growers, 35 feed mills, 40 hatcheries, 30 processing plants, six prepared foods
cook plants, 23 distribution centers, eight rendering facilities and three pet
food plants, we believe we are well positioned to supply the growing demand
for our products.
We are one of the largest, and we believe one of the most efficient, producers
and sellers of chicken in Mexico. Our presence in Mexico provides access to
a market with growing demand and has enabled us to leverage our operational
strengths within the region. The market for chicken products in Mexico is still
developing, with most sales attributed to fresh, commodity-oriented, market
price-based business. We believe our Mexico business is well positioned to continue
benefiting from these trends in the Mexican consumer market. Additionally, we
are an important player in the live market, which accounted for approximately
25% of the industry’s chicken sales in Mexico in 2015. On June 29, 2015,
we acquired 100% of the equity of Provemex Holding LLC and its subsidiaries
(together, “Tyson Mexico”) from Tyson Foods, Inc. and certain of
its subsidiaries. Tyson Mexico is a vertically integrated poultry business based
in Gomez Palacio, Durango, Mexico. The acquired business has a production capacity
of three million birds per week in its three plants and currently employs more
than 4,500 people in its plants, offices and seven distribution centers. The
acquisition further strengthens our strategic position in the Mexico chicken
market.
According to the USDA, the export of U.S. chicken products increased at an
average annual growth rate of 3.9% from 2004 through 2014. The U.S. is the second-largest
exporter of broiler meat behind Brazil. The U.S. is projected to export 6.9
billion pounds in calendar year 2016, which would account for 30.1% of the total
world exports and 17.5% of the total U.S. production, according to the USDA.
The top five exporters are projected to control over 86.4% of the market in
2016.
According to the USDA, chicken production in the U.S. increased from 2004 through
2014 at a compounded annual growth rate of 1.1%.
Key Industry Dynamics
Pricing. Items that influence chicken pricing in the U.S. include international
demand, changes in production by other broiler producing countries, input costs
and the demand associated with substitute products such as beef and pork. We
believe our focus on sales mix enables us to adapt to changing supply demand
dynamics by adjusting our production to maximize value. We also benefit from
a shorter production lifecycle of broilers compared to other proteins. While
production for cattle takes approximately 28 to 39 months from breeding to slaughter
and the production for pork takes 11 to 12 months, the production lifecycle
for the broiler is only ten weeks.
Feed. Broilers are fed corn and soybean meal as well as certain vitamins and
minerals. Corn and soybean meal accounted for approximately 46.0% and 35.1%
of our feed costs, respectively, in 2015. Broiler production is significantly
more efficient from a feed perspective than cattle or hog production. Approximately
two pounds of feed are required for each pound of chicken, as compared to approximately
seven and 3.5 pounds for cattle and hogs, respectively. We have sought to mitigate
the impact of feed price volatility on our profitability by decreasing the amount
of our products that are sold under longer term fixed price contracts, broadening
our product portfolio and expanding the variety of contracts within our book
of business.
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