Pilgrim’s CEO: Just BARE brand has huge potential

One of the key things that led to Pilgrim’s interest in acquiring GNP Company was the potential of its Just BARE brand, Pilgrim’s CEO Bill Lovette said.

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The appeal of the Just BARE line of antibiotic-free chicken is one of the key things that made acquiring GNP Company appealing to Pilgrim's, said Bill Lovette, CEO of Pilgrim's. | GNP Company
The appeal of the Just BARE line of antibiotic-free chicken is one of the key things that made acquiring GNP Company appealing to Pilgrim's, said Bill Lovette, CEO of Pilgrim's. | GNP Company

One of the key things that led to Pilgrim’s interest in acquiring GNP Company was the potential of its Just BARE brand, Pilgrim’s CEO Bill Lovette said.

Pilgrim’s, the second largest broiler company in the United States, announced on November 29 its intent to acquire GNP Company, which produces chicken under the Just BARE and Gold’n Plump labels.

Lovette, speaking during a November 30 conference call to address the proposed acquisition, said that consumers are increasingly becoming more “food-conscious” and the attributes of GNP’s Just BARE raised without antibiotics chicken line fit in with that trend.

“They have a very, very loyal and growing consumer base that follows that brand,” Lovette said.

“We believe that there is a possibility that the Just BARE brand is extendable and could be our national go-to-market brand at retail, given its consumer-leaning attributes, and on-trend messaging. We’re very excited about the Just BARE brand and its scalability across the nation.”

One special attribute of the Just BARE line is it has a code on the packaging that enables a consumer to scan and trace it back to the specific family farm where the chicken was raised. Another, he said, was the fact that the packaging is transparent, enabling the consumer to fully see the product inside.

He also said that Just BARE is the leading chicken brand sold on Amazon.com, and the company is very excited about its growth through that medium.

GNP can put Pilgrim’s ahead of pace for reaching antibiotic-free goal

With the Just BARE brand already being one that is raised with no antibiotics ever, and Gold’n Plump transitioning into a raised without antibiotics brand, Pilgrim’s will more rapidly progress in its plans to have one quarter of its broiler production raised without antibiotics by 2019.

Lovette estimated that between the moves Pilgrim’s has made to transition into increased antibiotic-free chicken production, and the raised without antibiotics volumes offered by GNP company, Pilgrim’s will have roughly 24 percent of its chicken production raised without antibiotics. He said about 21 percent of that will be due to Pilgrim’s existing operations, with the other 3 percent coming from GNP Company’s operations.

Pilgrim’s has agreed to pay $350 million for GNP Company, which it is purchasing from The Maschhoffs. The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of 2017.

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