Recent cases of African swine fever (ASF) in Europe – particularly in Spain – are creating an oversupply of pork in the continent and challenging the operations of Pilgrim’s Europe.
Fabio Sandri, CEO of Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation, addressed the situation during a quarterly earnings call on February 12.
“Our European business has been impacted for sure because of that,” Sandri said. “Spain is one of the largest producers in the world of pork, and because of the ASF, they’ve been banned from export to China. Because those exports don’t go to China, they end up in the European region, particularly in the U.K., and that is generating a lot of supply, especially in the sausage business.”
The regional pork oversupply is particularly challenging business for Pilgrim’s Richmond brand, which Sandri describes as a “well-established brand” in the U.K.
“When it’s competing with this external meat and all this private label sausage, it ends up impacting the prices,” he said.
However, Sandri mentioned increased promotional activity for the brand to give it more visibility, which he hopes will translate into increased sales.
He also said he expects the impact of the pork oversupply to reduce in time. While he said he doesn’t know how long the ASF situation in Spain will remain a factor, he optimistically said he didn’t expect those impacts to be long-term.
“In fact, we are seeing the herd being reduced throughout Europe,” he said.
Pilgrim’s Pride entered the European pork industry in 2019 when it acquired Tulip Limited from Danish Crown. Prior to that, Pilgrim’s was primarily a poultry producer. The U.S.-based company began its presence in 2017 when it acquired Moy Park, which was previously owned by JBS.
During the 2025 fiscal year, Pilgrim’s Pride’s net sales in Europe increased to US$1.4 billion, an improvement of approximately US$124 million when compared to the previous fiscal year. The company’s operating income for its European operations also increased year-over-year, going from US$69 million to US$83.4 million.
