Better Health for All
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Pilgrim's Pride has made efforts to improve the nutritional profile of some products, with its EatWellStayHealthy Kids(TM) chicken nuggets and popcorn chicken being baked, made from whole-muscle chicken breast, containing zero trans fats, and certified as 'healthy' by the USDA and AHA.
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These products have significantly lower calories, fat, saturated fat, and sodium compared to a leading national brand.
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The company also ensures 100% of its food products adhere to federal labeling requirements and 100% of its U.S. and European facilities are GFSI certified, with 71% in Mexico.
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Pilgrim's Europe is in its third year of partnership with Mind, a mental health charity, and has awarded £4,800 to Stand To – Supporting Mental Health for CPR and AED training for 200 young adults.
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The company's 'Equipped for Life!' initiative, implemented in 2014 for its 6,200 employees, aims for complete mental, physical, and social wellbeing, including smoking cessation, weight loss, and health education.
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Pilgrim's U.S. launched Hometown Strong, a $20 million initiative, and the Better Futures program, investing $1.27 million in 2024, which enrolled 1,193 students in tuition-free higher education.
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The Tomorrow Fund scholarship invested over $2.3 million.
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Pilgrim's Europe established a £1 million Community Support Fund and donated over 5 million meals to charities.
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During the COVID-19 pandemic, Pilgrim's invested $575,000 in the city of Cold Spring, Minn.
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The company invested over £10 million in process innovations in Europe across 2022-2023 and $75 million in a Cold Spring, Minn., facility expansion.
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Pilgrim's Mexico achieved a 23.0% reduction in Scope 1 & 2 GHG emission intensity from 2019 to 2024 and 21.1% renewable electricity use in 2024.
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Pilgrim's Mexico also reduced over 35,000 metric tons of CO2e by using specialized enzymes in chicken diets.
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Fair Money & Economic Opportunity
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Pilgrim's Pride Corporation is a food company, not a financial institution.
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The provided articles do not contain any evidence that the company offers lending, insurance, or other financial services to consumers. Therefore, all KPIs related to financial products, services, or customer financial outcomes are scored as 0, indicating they are not applicable to the company's core business or that no relevant data is available.
Fair Pay & Worker Respect
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Pilgrim's Europe subsidiaries reported varying median gender pay gaps in 2023: Moy Park had a 2.5% gap, Pilgrim's UK a 6.6% gap, and Pilgrim's Food Masters a 7.6% gap.
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These figures are generally below the UK's Office for National Statistics median pay gap of 7.7% for April 2023.
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Employee reviews on Glassdoor frequently mention a 'high turnover rate' as a significant concern, particularly for night shift and hourly employees, though no specific percentage is provided.
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The company received a 2% score on a Racial Justice Scorecard, significantly lower than a peer company's 24%, attributed to a lack of publicly disclosed DEI data.
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Additionally, there has been negative press regarding workers' rights issues, and one review mentioned a refusal to honor a wage increase in a contract.
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Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing
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Beef suppliers are audited annually for food safety and animal welfare.
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Lamb producer partners complete a Responsible Efficient Production Assessment biannually.
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The company states that 100% of contracted farm partners are audited for animal welfare and environmental performance, but a single average frequency for all tier-1 suppliers is not provided.
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Pilgrim's maintains a zero-tolerance policy towards child and forced labor.
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In 2024, no victims of modern slavery were directly identified working in Pilgrim's Europe sites.
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However, in June 2024, articles outlined labor rights violations at a Pilgrim's Pride chicken factory in Moorefield, West Virginia, where workers allegedly experienced workplace injuries and were charged excessive rent for company accommodation.
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Vendors must agree to abide by the Vendor Code of Conduct, and Pilgrim's expects vendors to comply with various international human rights and labor principles.
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However, no percentage of supplier contracts that include enforceable ethical-sourcing clauses is provided.
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Honest & Fair Business
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Pilgrim's Pride Corporation incurred an $83.5 million antitrust settlement in 2025.
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The company has a formal whistleblower protection policy that prohibits retaliation against anyone making good faith reports, offering confidential and anonymous reporting via an ethics line and website.
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The Audit Committee Charter outlines procedures for handling complaints regarding accounting or auditing matters, including confidential and anonymous submissions.
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Pilgrim's Pride has a severe ESG risk rating of 42.6 from Sustainalytics, ranking 461 out of 547 in its industry.
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The company's parent, JBS S.A., controls PPC with 83% ownership, and the Batista brothers, who were involved in a $27 million SEC settlement and a $256 million criminal penalty related to anti-bribery, regained board seats in 2024, concentrating 90% voting control.
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Pilgrim's Pride has a zero-tolerance policy for bribery and corruption, but FCPA enforcement was suspended in February 2025, and executives were charged with conspiracy to fix prices.
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Less than 10% of ethical claims are independently verified.
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Ethics Line cases may not be closed within the same calendar year, indicating a resolution time potentially exceeding 365 days.
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Kind to Animals
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Pilgrim's is on track to achieve 100% vendor compliance with its Supplier Code of Business Ethics and Conduct
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, but no current percentage of suppliers audited for welfare compliance is provided. Undercover investigations at a North Carolina chicken factory farm supplying Pilgrim's Pride documented severe animal welfare violations, including chickens suffering from painful leg deformities, sick or injured birds being discarded or abused, workers throwing live birds, and birds living in their own waste, leading to ammonia burns.
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These investigations also alleged that workers used metal hooks and dumped live birds into pits.
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Over 20,000 birds were reportedly crammed into a single warehouse shed.
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Additionally, the USDA warned nine Pilgrim’s Pride chicken slaughterhouses about mistreatment of birds on 17 occasions between April and September 2021, with specific citations for facilities in Mount Pleasant, Texas (3 times), Canton, Georgia (1 time), and Lufkin, Texas (1 time).
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In May 2021, 190 chickens were left to die at a Pilgrim's Pride slaughterhouse in Cold Spring, Minnesota.
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No War, No Weapons
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Pilgrim's Pride Corp reported $0 in lobbying expenditures for both the 2023 and 2024 election cycles, indicating no defense-related lobbying activity.
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The company's core business is food production, and there is no evidence of involvement in arms manufacturing, military contracts, or dual-use technology development. No information was provided regarding sales to embargoed regimes, peacebuilding investments, conflict divestment policies, or any other defense-related activities.
Planet-Friendly Business
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Pilgrim's Pride reported total Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions of 1,576,550 tCO2e in 2024 and Scope 3 emissions of 19,268,640 tCO2e in 2023, totaling over 20 million tCO2e.
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The company has an interim target to reduce Scope 1 and 2 GHG emission intensity by 30% by 2030 from a 2019 baseline, having achieved a 23% reduction by 2024.
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A net-zero target is set for 2040, but it is not explicitly stated as SBTi-validated.
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In 2024, 21.1% of global electricity consumption came from renewable sources, with Pilgrim's Europe facilities using 100% renewable electricity in the UK in 2022.
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Pilgrim's Europe maintained zero waste to landfill across all facilities in 2022.
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The company has a formal zero-deforestation policy, but its parent company JBS' timeline for eliminating supply chain deforestation stretches until 2035, and JBS has sourced from ranches with illegal deforestation.
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Pilgrim's Pride was found to have 1,377 days of Clean Water Act violations between 2012 and 2017, resulting in a $1.43 million penalty.
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The company reduced plastic packaging by over 120 MT in 2022 and uses 100% recyclable rigid packaging in Europe.
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Pilgrim's Europe has a £1 million Community Support Fund and has contributed over 300,000 meals to charity.
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The company supports survivors of modern slavery with paid work placements and permanent jobs.
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JBS is committing $1 billion in new capital investment to help achieve net zero emissions by 2040.
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Pilgrim's Europe has 'Platinum' level accreditation in an independent Business & Biodiversity Charter and has planted trees at several facilities.
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Respect for Cultures & Communities
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Pilgrim's Pride has established numerous formal partnerships with local community groups, including 18 social institutions in Mexico
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and over 15 community organizations in the UK,
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in addition to many named charities and non-profit organizations across its European operations. The company has invested significant amounts in community development, such as a US$20 million Hometown Strong initiative in the U.S.
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and a £1 million Community Support Fund in Europe.
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However, the percentage of company revenue reinvested in local community development is not provided, preventing a quantitative score. There are no reported cultural appropriation incidents. A Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA) was conducted for Pilgrim’s UK pork and lamb supply chains in 2023,
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but a formal cultural impact assessment protocol for all operations is not evidenced. The company expanded its Cold Spring, MN, facility, boosting employment by 10% or 130 people,
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but a company-wide local employment ratio is not available. Pilgrim's provides an Ethics Line and internal channels for team members to report concerns,
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and a Human Rights Action Plan aims to raise awareness of grievance systems for supply chain stakeholders,
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but the coverage of formal grievance mechanisms specifically for community concerns across operational sites is not specified. The company states a commitment to supporting the economic, social, and cultural development of its operational areas,
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but a documented social license to operate for a specific percentage of operations is not provided. Charitable giving includes support for a wheelchair basketball club
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and a charity for children with long-term conditions,
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but the percentage of revenue donated to cultural heritage organizations is not specified. Pilgrim's Europe established a £1 million Community Support Fund
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and donated over £60,000 to 15 community organizations,
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but the percentage of non-core revenue distributed to community funds is not available. Information is available in English, Spanish, and Kreyòl Ayisyen,
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and the company offers unlimited access to over 200 languages,
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but a comprehensive language inclusivity score is not provided. The company's Code of Conduct requires team members to report misconduct,
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but a proactive cultural incident response framework is not detailed. Pilgrim's provided over 5.7 million training hours in 2024,
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including some related to Inclusion and Respect,
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but the percentage of employees completing specific cultural sensitivity training is not available. The company prioritizes local sourcing
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and contracted 1,070 French farms in 2023,
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but a specific percentage of procurement spend allocated locally is not provided.
Safe & Smart Tech
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Pilgrim's Pride Corporation experienced a cyberattack that resulted in a production shutdown at its US and Canadian meat plants and paid an $11 million ransom.
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The company states it respects the privacy of its team members, customers, and suppliers, using data for legitimate business purposes and observing applicable laws.
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It also requires vendors to follow all laws and regulations regarding individual privacy and to safeguard Pilgrim's Property from cyber-attack.
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Pilgrim's uses cookies and action tags for site analytics and marketing, and honors 'do not track' settings for California residents.
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The company updates and tests its technology regularly, restricts outside companies' use of customer information, and controls access with strict internal procedures.
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Pilgrim's maintains policies for physical security of workplaces and records.
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The company's Code of Conduct and Ethics mandates compliance with anti-money laundering laws, international trade controls, and accurate financial record-keeping.
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It also provides an Ethics Line for reporting misconduct across various countries.
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Zero Waste & Sustainable Products
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Pilgrim's US/PR operations had a waste diversion rate of 17.05% in 2020.
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In 2020, 74.1% of packaging material used in US/PR was biodegradable or recyclable.
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Pilgrim's Europe implemented 100% recyclable rigid packaging in 2023.
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The company reduced plastic waste by 36.1 MT by reducing the thickness of plastic layers and bag sizes for Richmond fresh pork sausages, and by 49 MT for Richmond frozen sausages by moving to mono laminate and reducing bag size.
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Additionally, 205 MT of virgin plastic was removed annually by introducing pulp trays for chilled ready meals for one customer, and 20 MT of plastic waste was reduced for another customer by moving to A-pet clam shells designed with recycled plastic.
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Pilgrim's Europe facilities maintained a commitment to zero waste to landfill in 2022.
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The company has a target to lower its global use of packaging by 5% each year and simultaneously raise the percentage of recyclable packages by 5%.
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Pilgrim's Mexico implemented a Circular Economy Program in which five suppliers were invited to participate.
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