MARKET RISKS AND CONCENTRATIONS

12 Months Ended

Dec. 25, 2016

Risks and Uncertainties [Abstract]

MARKET RISKS AND CONCENTRATIONS

MARKET RISKS AND CONCENTRATIONS

The Company’s financial instruments that are exposed to concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of cash equivalents, investment securities and trade accounts receivable. The Company’s cash equivalents and investment securities are high-quality debt and equity securities placed with major banks and financial institutions. The Company’s trade accounts receivable are generally unsecured. Credit evaluations are performed on all significant customers and updated as circumstances dictate. Concentrations of credit risk with respect to trade accounts receivable are limited due to the large number of customers and their dispersion across geographic areas. With the exception of one customer that accounts for approximately 9.4% of trade accounts and other receivables at December 25, 2016, and approximately 7.3% of net sales for 2016, the Company does not believe it has significant concentrations of credit risk in its trade accounts receivable.

As of December 25, 2016, we employed approximately 29,850 persons in the U.S. and approximately 9,750 persons in Mexico. Approximately 42.9% of the Company’s employees were covered under collective bargaining agreements. Substantially all employees covered under collective bargaining agreements are covered under agreements that expire in 2017 or later, with the exception of three processing operations locations, where the collective bargaining agreement expired in 2016. Collective bargaining agreements have been reached for two of these three processing operations locations and we expect to ratify these agreements in 2017. Negotiations are ongoing on the collective borrowing agreement for the remaining processing operations location. We have not experienced any labor-related work stoppage at any location in over ten years. We believe our relationship with our employees and union leadership is satisfactory. At any given time, we will likely be in some stage of contract negotiations with various collective bargaining units. In the absence of an agreement, we may become subject to labor disruption at one or more of these locations, which could have an adverse effect on our financial results.

The aggregate carrying amount of net assets belonging to our Mexico operations was $673.0 million and $576.6 million at December 25, 2016 and December 27, 2015, respectively.