Ceremony follows production startup
Durango Governor Esteban Villegas Villarreal and senior Pilgrim's executives are scheduled to lead the opening at 10:00 a.m., according to Arturo Ortiz Galán, head of the state's Foreign Investment Attraction Unit. The facility is designated El Porvenir (Línea 2).
Milenio reported on Nov. 3 that Ortiz Galán put the investment at US$40 million, equivalent to MXN 720 million. The formal opening follows an operational milestone: in its second-quarter results released July 29, Pilgrim's said the new prepared-foods line at Porvenir had started production on schedule.
The facility will add cooked chicken to the company's value-added product offerings. Ortiz Galán said the line would benefit local suppliers and poultry businesses and strengthen Durango's role as an industrial and agri-food center.
An AgriLinkage review of an Oct. 15, 2026, local report put the planned workforce at 320 direct employees. About 200 positions, or roughly 62.5%, had been filled before the opening. Ortiz Galán said the plant's more than 300 direct jobs would come in addition to 6,000 projected at four other companies with facilities under construction in Gómez Palacio.
Mexico expansion targets production and imports
El Porvenir forms part of Pilgrim's US$1.3 billion investment program for Mexico from 2026 through 2030 under President Claudia Sheinbaum's Plan México economic strategy. The program is expected to add more than 373,000 metric tons of production and create more than 4,000 direct jobs and 16,000 indirect jobs.
The largest allocation, US$950 million, is earmarked for the southeastern states of Veracruz, Campeche and Yucatán. Durango and Coahuila are allocated US$200 million, while another US$150 million is planned for Querétaro, San Luis Potosí and Hidalgo.
Pilgrim's Mexico CEO José de Jesús Muñoz Velasco outlined the work in a Jan. 15, 2026, presidency statement. It includes expanding the hatchery and feed plant, building grow-out farms and a poultry processing plant, relocating breeder farms, and modernizing processing and hatchery facilities.
In that statement, Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said the investment was intended to replace 35% of Mexico's total chicken imports.
Federal incentives and state support
Ortiz Galán credited cooperation with the federal government, including investment incentives, with making the expansion possible.
"Thanks to the good relationship that [Durango] Governor [Esteban] Villegas has with President Sheinbaum, I have been able to easily initiate discussions and secure support from all the relevant ministries," he said. "It's very positive that there's a plan to digitalize all processes and create a one-stop shop for investments."
Sheinbaum also pointed to the investment in January as evidence of a favorable business environment. Speaking at a morning news conference, she said Pilgrim's success in Mexico and its confidence that the country offered a safe place to invest had encouraged the company to keep expanding.
Pilgrim's operations in Mexico and abroad
Pilgrim's Pride is based in the United States and majority-owned by Brazilian meat processor JBS S.A. The company has operated in Mexico for more than 38 years and supplies food to approximately 30 million people there.
Its Mexican operations employ about 12,600 people and support 50,000 indirect jobs through farmers, logistics providers and other supply-chain partners.
In its second-quarter 2026 results, Pilgrim's reported a global workforce of approximately 63,000. Its protein-processing and prepared-foods operations span 14 U.S. states, Puerto Rico, Mexico, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and continental Europe.
