Pilgrim’s pledges $1.3 billion to Mexico to cut chicken imports 35%

Mexico’s secretary of economy, Marcelo Ebrard, announced that Pilgrim’s, the Mexican unit of Brazil’s JBS group, will invest US$1.3 billion in the country through 2030 to expand domestic poultry production and reduce dependence on imports. The government framed the initiative as part of Plan México, a broader effort to strengthen food security and industrial capacity.

Ebrard said the capital injection will add roughly 373,000 metric tons of annual production to Pilgrim’s Mexican operations and cut about 35 percent of Mexico’s chicken imports. "Mexico will stop 35% of its total chicken imports. Chicken will be produced in our country," he declared at the announcement. Pilgrim’s executives described the expansion as equivalent to a roughly 38 percent increase in the company’s Mexican capacity and said it will create more than 4,000 direct jobs.

The US$1.3 billion is allocated regionally, with a reported US$200 million for the north in Durango and Coahuila to modernize processing plants and install solar panels and biogas systems; about US$150 million for central states including Querétaro and Hidalgo for technology and processing upgrades; and about US$950 million focused on the south in Veracruz, Campeche and Yucatán to double feed-mill and hatchery capacity, build a new processing plant and establish a production hub in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The southern allocation is intended to drive the largest share of the capacity increase.

Pilgrim’s said it currently employs about 12,600 people in Mexico and supports roughly 50,000 indirect positions across its supply chain. Company leaders framed the program as a continuation of a decade-long expansion that has doubled production in Mexico, with investments aimed at rural job creation and career development within agribusiness communities.

The investment has clear market implications. Adding 373,000 metric tons of annual supply suggests current Mexican chicken imports are on the order of about 1.06 million metric tons annually, meaning the new capacity could materially displace foreign shipments and compress margins for import-dependent distributors. Pilgrim’s stock moved downward on the announcement, falling about 2 percent in trading, reflecting investor reassessment of near-term costs and capital allocation even as the move signals longer-term market capture.

Policy analysts note the project aligns with Mexico’s strategic push toward import substitution in key food categories. By coupling processing upgrades with renewable energy and biogas, the initiative targets cost reductions and resilience against feed-price volatility and energy disruptions. Concentrating most investment in the southern states, including an Isthmus hub, also maps onto federal priorities for regional development and could shift the geographic footprint of poultry processing and feed supply in Mexico.

Risks remain for timelines and execution: permitting, local infrastructure, and feed supply chains must scale to absorb intensified production. The government and Pilgrim’s will need to coordinate on logistics and environmental approvals to meet the 2030 horizon. If realized, the project would mark one of the largest single investments in Mexico’s poultry sector in recent years and could reshape trade flows and rural employment patterns across major producing states.