Pilgrim's Pride Strengthens Prepared Foods Strategy With Just Bare

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation PPC has reached a notable milestone in its prepared foods push, with the fast-growing Just Bare chicken brand surpassing $1 billion in annual retail sales in 2025. This achievement shows how the brand has quickly grown from a niche offering into a strong player in the frozen and fresh chicken categories.

Just Bare’s growth has been fueled by a 45% annual growth rate and strong category momentum, supported by expanding retail distribution and rising consumer demand for convenient, clean-label protein options. The brand now leads the fully cooked chicken category in sales pace and has expanded market share dramatically, from 1% to 13% in three years, reflecting strong consumer adoption and shelf expansion across mass, club and grocery channels. 

A major driver of this performance is the frozen fully cooked portfolio, generating more than $750 million in annual sales, alongside strong traction from the Oven Roasted platform, which appeals to shoppers seeking quick preparation and minimal ingredients. The brand’s positioning around simplicity, transparency and antibiotic-free chicken aligns with evolving consumer preferences for higher-quality convenience foods.

To support rising demand, Pilgrim’s Pride is building a new prepared chicken facility in Walker County, GA, to produce Just Bare products and expand capacity. The investment signals confidence in sustained volume growth and highlights the brand’s central role in scaling value-added prepared foods.

The milestone also reflects Pilgrim’s Pride's broader strategy to reduce exposure to commodity price swings by expanding branded, value-added offerings. Management continues to invest in prepared foods capacity, strengthen key customer partnerships and leverage internal supply to support higher-margin products, aiming to diversify revenue streams and build a more resilient earnings profile while meeting rising demand for convenient protein solutions.

Pilgrim's Pride’s Zacks Rank & Share Price Performance

Shares of this Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) company have gained 1.5% over the past month compared with the industry and the broader Consumer Staples sector’s growth of 3.4% and 8.2%, respectively. PPC has outperformed the S&P 500 index’s growth of 0.7% in the same period.

PPC Stock's Past Month Performance

Is PPC a Value Play Stock?

Pilgrim’s Pride currently trades at a forward 12-month P/E ratio of 9.66, which is down from the industry average of 13.35 and notably below the sector average of 18.03. This valuation positions the stock at a modest discount relative to both its direct peers and the broader consumer staples sector.

PPC P/E Ratio (Forward 12 Months)

Better-Ranked Stocks

The Hershey Company HSY engages in the manufacture and sale of confectionery products and pantry items in the United States and internationally. It sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Hershey’s current financial-year sales and earnings indicates growth of 4.4% and 27.1%, respectively, from the prior-year reported levels. HSY delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 17.2%, on average. 

The Simply Good Foods Company SMPL, a consumer-packaged food and beverage company, engages in the development, marketing and sale of snacks and meal replacements and other products in North America and internationally. It holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. SMPL delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 5.5%, on average. 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Simply Good Foods’ current fiscal-year earnings implies growth of 1.6% from the year-ago figures.

Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc. OLLI operates as a retailer of closeout merchandise and excess inventory in the United States. OLLI currently has a Zacks Rank #2. Ollie's Bargain delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 5.2%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Ollie's Bargain’s fiscal 2025 sales and earnings implies growth of 16.7% and 17.7%, respectively, from the previous year’s reported numbers.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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