Pilgrim's Pride baling out
According to local reports, Pilgrim's Pride may close its facilities in El Dorado, Arkansas, if it does not see improvement in quality and a return on its investment.
The El Dorado site includes a poultry processing plant, a feed mill and a hatchery. The site employs over 1,600 people. "This is an extremely serious situation in El Dorado. We don't want to close that complex, but unless there are immediate changes that will be our only option," Pilgrim's Pride spokesman Ray Atkinson told the local press.
The news comes only a month after Pilgrim's Pride announced it would close a processing plant in North Carolina as well as 6 of its 12 distribution centres “in response to the crisis facing the U.S. chicken industry from soaring feed-ingredient costs resulting from corn-based ethanol production”.
The company also said it would review its other operations and would consider more closures. The assessment at El Dorado is part of that review, Atkinson said.Pilgrim's Pride acquired the El Dorado plant in 2003 from ConAgra.
Also last month, Pilgrim's Pride announced the sale of its turkey production facility and distribution centre in New Oxford, Pennsylvania, to New Oxford Foods, LLC, a subsidiary of Hain Pure Protein Corp.
The El Dorado site includes a poultry processing plant, a feed mill and a hatchery. The site employs over 1,600 people. "This is an extremely serious situation in El Dorado. We don't want to close that complex, but unless there are immediate changes that will be our only option," Pilgrim's Pride spokesman Ray Atkinson told the local press.
The news comes only a month after Pilgrim's Pride announced it would close a processing plant in North Carolina as well as 6 of its 12 distribution centres “in response to the crisis facing the U.S. chicken industry from soaring feed-ingredient costs resulting from corn-based ethanol production”.
The company also said it would review its other operations and would consider more closures. The assessment at El Dorado is part of that review, Atkinson said.Pilgrim's Pride acquired the El Dorado plant in 2003 from ConAgra.
Also last month, Pilgrim's Pride announced the sale of its turkey production facility and distribution centre in New Oxford, Pennsylvania, to New Oxford Foods, LLC, a subsidiary of Hain Pure Protein Corp.