July 16, 2008
Pilgrim's Pride has a nightmare in the form of soaring feed costs and the company is now planning to consolidate a tray-pack chicken processing operation and close a distribution facility to cut costs.
The tray-pack business in El Dorado, Arkansas, will be handled by six case-ready facilities, which will cause about 600 job losses by September 19. The site will operate as a supply centre.
Pilgrim's Pride will also close its El Paso, Texas, distribution centre by mid-September.
Pilgrim's Pride has so far cut its workforce by 1,600 this year as it struggles with soaring feed costs, which has led to the company losing US$111.4 million for the quarter ended March 29.
So far, the company has closed six distribution centres, one chicken processing facility, and cut its weekly chicken production by 5 percent to lessen losses.