Pork Suppliers

In 2019, our U.S. based business purchased more than 24.8 million hogs from approximately 750 family farmers for $3.6 billion to supply our five U.S. pork production facilities. Approximately 14% of our total hog supply in the U.S. is sourced from our own live pork business unit. Pilgrim’s Tulip sourced more than 2.9 million hogs from 930 family farm partners and paid them more than $351.7 million. Approximately 50% of our hogs are sourced from our integrated supply chain. In Australia, we purchased 134,000 hogs from 12 independent farmers for $20 million.

In the U.S., we require all family farm partners supplying hogs to our facilities to be certified in accordance with the Pork Quality Assurance Plus (PQA+) Program. We conduct third party audits of select partners according to the PAACO-certified Common Swine Industry Audit. We also conduct internal animal welfare audits on a specific subsect of our suppliers.

Hogs for sale in Australia must be tagged with an approved NLIS device. The National Vendor Declaration (NVD) is the main document that upholds the Australian meat and livestock food-safety reputation and product traceability. In signing the NVD, the producer declares compliance with the Livestock Producer Assurance (LPA) program, an independently audited on-farm food-safety certification. The NVD contains important information on the husbandry of livestock consigned for harvest. In addition, before livestock leave their farm of birth, they must be tagged with an approved National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) device.