Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., Greeley, Colo., released its 2018 Sustainability Report, which provides a comprehensive overview of the company’s recent achievements and progress toward 2020 sustainability goals.

“Our 2018 Pilgrim’s Sustainability Report shares the ways our 55,000 team members and more than 5,400 family farm partners are contributing to environmental, social and economic progress in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Mexico and Europe,” says Jayson Penn, global president and CEO. “We are committed to improving the lives of families around the world through high-quality, sustainable food solutions, and are focused on long-term success for our business and our stakeholders.”

The 2018 report details Pilgrim’s achievements related to team members, customers and consumers, the environment, animal care, communities and suppliers. Highlights include:

• Team member health and safety. Reduced severe incidents globally by 26% from 2017-2018.
• Animal care. Achieved 97.1-100% scores on Pilgrim’s U.S. external animal welfare audits.
• Environment. Decreased electricity use intensity by 5% from 2017-2018.
• Family farm partners. Paid $1.2 billion to more than 5,400 poultry family farm partners.
• Investment. Approved more than $255 million for investments in sustainability-related projects.

Pilgrim’s also made progress toward 2020 sustainability goals, including:

• 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emission intensity, compared to the goal of 14%.
• 13% reduction in electricity use intensity, compared to the goal of 12%.
• 11% reduction in natural gas use intensity, compared to the goal of 14%.

The company is also on track to achieve a 90% or better on the Pilgrim’s Animal Health and Welfare Scorecard for all processing plants, a 95% or better on the Pilgrim’s Animal Health and Welfare Scorecard for live operations and 100% vendor compliance with its Supplier Code of Business Ethics and Conduct.

“While we are proud of our achievements to date, there is more work to be done,” Penn says. “We are confident our unique global production platform, in conjunction with our diverse products, position us well to meet the demand for sustainable protein while demonstrating continuous improvement.”