Pilgrim’s Pride no longer in the turkey business
Chicken company Pilgrim’s Pride recently announced the sale of its turkey production facility and distribution centre in New Oxford, Pa., to New Oxford Foods LLC, a subsidiary of Hain Pure Protein Corp.
Financial terms of the sale have not yet been disclosed,. It has been reported that there was no material gain or loss as a result of this transaction.
The sale, which is effective immediately, means that Pilgrim’s Pride is no longer a producer of turkeys. The company entered this business in 2001 with the purchase of WLR Foods Inc.
Pilgrim’s Pride reported total US turkey sales of US$122.3 mln for 2007. The New Oxford facility processes 175,000 turkeys per week.
“Despite the positive improvements made in our turkey business over the past few years, we found that our small size and scale in this segment made it difficult to achieve acceptable levels of profitability on a consistent basis,” said Pilgrim’s Pride’s president and CEO Clint Rivers.
Rivers said the sale of the New Oxford complex is not expected to have any significant short-term impact on Pilgrim’s Pride’s current turkey customers. As part of the sale agreement, New Oxford Foods will continue to co-pack product for Pilgrim’s Pride through the end of September.
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