Pilgrim’s Celebrates 2021 Sustainability Accomplishments

GREELEY, Colo., Aug. 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pilgrim’s [NASDAQ: PPC], a leading global food company, today announced the release of its 2021 Sustainability Report, which includes progress updates toward the organization’s 2030 goals that were announced last year. The report details the company’s advancements in critical areas – team members, environment, communities, animal care, customers and consumers, and suppliers – across its operations in the United States, the UK, Continental Europe and Mexico.

As Pilgrim’s continues to strengthen its approach toward sustainability and ESG, the company completed its first sustainability-linked bond audit, resulting in positive progress toward the commitment to achieve a 30 percent reduction in scope 1 and scope 2 greenhouse gas emission intensity by 2030. The newly-created Pilgrim’s Pride ESG Committee of the Pilgrim’s Board of Directors was also developed, which has been tasked with overseeing areas such as climate change, human rights, diversity and inclusion, and employee health, safety and well-being to ensure excellence, humanity and corporate responsibility are fully integrated in every level of the organization.

“At Pilgrim’s, we recognize our role as a global food company and a large employer in the areas where we operate,” said Fabio Sandri, CEO, Pilgrim’s. “We are working to leverage our scale and influence to help food and agriculture be part of the solution to many of the sustainability challenges we face around the world.”

Key achievements detailed in the 2021 report include:

• Team Members:
  • Expanded our Better Futures program throughout the US, which provides tuition-free community college to our team members and their dependents – with more than 370 participants signed up and two graduates to date
  • Achieved a 39% improvement in the Global Safety Index since 2019, surpassing our 30% goal
• Environment:
  • Reduced scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emission intensity by 10% from our 2019 baseline
  • Invested more than $18.7 million in 64+ greenhouse gas emission reduction projects in Pilgrim’s facilities
• Animal Care:
  • Launched our global Animal Welfare Scorecard, created by Pilgrim’s animal welfare teams using a combination of indicators selected for their importance to the health and welfare of our animals
• Communities:
  • Completed over 100 infrastructure and social services projects across the US through our $15 million Pilgrim’s Hometown Strong initiative
• Suppliers:
  • Partnered with more than 6,000 livestock and poultry producer partners, providing payments of more than $2.2 billion

“We are investing in sustainability and ESG initiatives throughout our organization like never before, and I am confident we will continue pushing ourselves and the industry forward in a meaningful way,” Sandri said. “Our vision – to be the best and most respected company in our industry, creating the opportunity of a better future for our team members – will continue guiding us as we move forward on this journey.”

To learn more, visit the 2021 Pilgrim’s Sustainability Report online at http://sustainability.pilgrims.com.

About Pilgrim’s

As a global food company with more than 60,000 team members, Pilgrim’s processes, prepares, packages and delivers fresh, frozen and value-added food products for customers in more than 100 countries. For more information, please visit www.pilgrims.com.

Media Contact:
Nikki Richardson
Corporate Communications
nikki.richardson@jbssa.com