Pilgrim’s Pride to close Tennessee facility, expand in Georgia

GREELEY — Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. (Nasdaq: PPC) plans to shut down harvesting operations at its Chattanooga, Tennessee, facility as it invests $75 million in an expansion of its Ellijay, Georgia, poultry facility.

The Georgia expansion will increase harvesting and portioning capacity, enabling the facility to produce a broader mix of higher-value, boneless chicken products used in chicken sandwiches, tenders and other fast-growing categories, the company said in a news release.

“As consumer demand shifts and our customers grow, we are investing to ensure our operations are positioned for the future,” Fabio Sandri, CEO of Pilgrim’s, said in a written statement. “Ellijay is a strong-performing facility with a talented team, and this expansion will allow us to optimize our portfolio, improve efficiency, and continue delivering high-quality products to our customers.”

Pilgrim’s will close the aging harvesting portion of its Chattanooga, Tennessee, operations but will continue to use Chattanooga’s deboning infrastructure to support nearby Ellijay’s expanded operations.

Pilgrim’s said some of the 348 workers affected by the closure will be eligible for transfer to other Pilgrim’s locations.

“We are grateful for the dedication of our impacted Chattanooga team members and are committed to helping them through this transition with care, respect and as many opportunities as possible,” Sandri said. “These decisions are among the most difficult we make because they affect people who have contributed so much to our success.”

Greeley-based Pilgrim’s employs 63,000 workers and operates protein-processing plants and prepared-foods facilities in 14 states, Puerto Rico, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Ireland and continental Europe.

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