Pilgrim’s Pride Chattanooga Harvest Ops Will Move to Expanded Ellijay, Georgia, Plant
Pilgrim’s Pride announced it will invest $75 million to upgrade its poultry facility in Ellijay, Ga., and transfer harvest/slaughter operations from Chattanooga, Tenn., to the Ellijay facility, according to a release from the company.
The Chattanooga facility’s deboning operations will remain active and will support the expanded Ellijay operation, while the aging harvest floor in Chattanooga will shut down, impacting 348 employees there. Those workers will be eligible to transfer to other locations, the company said.
Pilgrim’s $75 million capital investment in Ellijay will increase harvesting and portioning capacity, and the company said it would “enable the facility to produce a broader mix of higher-value, boneless chicken products — including those used in popular chicken sandwiches, tenders and other fast-growing categories.”
The move runs parallel with a move by JBS USA (majority owner of Pilgrim’s Pride) to close a beef-processing facility in Souderton, Pa., and a value-added processing plant in Memphis, Tenn.
About the Author
Andy Hanacek
Senior Editor
Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.