Pilgrim's Pride to size down operations at Texas plant

Pilgrim's Pride will lay off 450 staff at its Nacogdoches, Texas plant in a move to size down the facility's operations.

The Nacogdoches plant will close down three of its seven prepared food lines, but will continue its fresh processing, fresh packaging, de-boning and portioning, and mechanically de-boned lines.

Pilgrim's Pride has faced major economic troubles in the past 18 months, said director of corporate relations, Ray Atkinson.

Pilgrim's Pride, which filed for bankruptcy in December, lost US$998.5 million last year due to high feed costs, weak prices and excessive chicken supply that demand could not keep up with.

With all these problems, downsizing is part of the company's continued efforts to reduce costs and operate more efficiently, said Atkinson.