QUARTERLY RESULTS (UNAUDITED) (Details) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands, £ in Millions					3 Months Ended												12 Months Ended
	Oct. 15, 2019 USD ($)	Oct. 15, 2019 GBP (£)	Sep. 08, 2017 USD ($)	Jan. 06, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 29, 2019 USD ($) $ / shares	Sep. 29, 2019 USD ($) $ / shares	Jun. 30, 2019 USD ($) $ / shares	Mar. 31, 2019 USD ($) $ / shares	Dec. 30, 2018 USD ($) $ / shares	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($) $ / shares	Jul. 01, 2018 USD ($) $ / shares	Apr. 01, 2018 USD ($) $ / shares	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) $ / shares	Sep. 24, 2017 USD ($) $ / shares	Jun. 25, 2017 USD ($) $ / shares	Mar. 26, 2017 USD ($) $ / shares	Dec. 29, 2019 USD ($) $ / shares	Dec. 30, 2018 USD ($) $ / shares	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($) $ / shares
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Gain on bargain purchase																	$ 56,880	$ 0	$ 0
Net sales					$ 3,063,489	$ 2,777,970	$ 2,843,085	$ 2,724,675	$ 2,656,789	$ 2,697,604	$ 2,836,713	$ 2,746,678	$ 2,742,352	$ 2,793,885	$ 2,752,286	$ 2,479,340	11,409,219	10,937,784	10,767,863
Gross profit					201,394	282,197	367,864	218,939	111,848	169,741	274,222	287,665	261,804	478,584	474,838	256,388	1,070,394	843,476	1,471,614
Net income attributable to PPC common stockholders					$ 92,080	$ 109,765	$ 170,068	$ 84,011	$ (7,324)	$ 29,310	$ 106,541	$ 119,418	$ 134,337	$ 232,680	$ 233,641	$ 93,921	$ 455,924	$ 247,945	$ 694,579
Net income per share amounts - basic (in dollars per share) | $ / shares					$ 0.37	$ 0.44	$ 0.68	$ 0.34	$ (0.03)	$ 0.12	$ 0.43	$ 0.48	$ 0.54	$ 0.94	$ 0.94	$ 0.38	$ 1.83	$ 1.00	$ 2.79
Net income per share amounts - diluted (in dollars per share) | $ / shares					$ 0.37	$ 0.44	$ 0.68	$ 0.34	$ (0.03)	$ 0.12	$ 0.43	$ 0.48	$ 0.54	$ 0.93	$ 0.94	$ 0.38	$ 1.83	$ 1.00	$ 2.79
Luverne, Minnesota | Discontinued Operations, Disposed of by Means Other than Sale, Closure
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Impairment charges, assets held for sale and disposed										$ 300		$ 500
Rose Energy, Ltd. | Discontinued Operations, Disposed of by Means Other than Sale, Closure
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Impairment charges, assets held for sale and disposed									$ 2,600
Alabama Processing Plant | Discontinued Operations, Held-for-sale
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Impairment charges, assets held for sale and disposed															$ 3,500
Tulip Ltd. and Subsidiaries
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Percentage of equity acquired	100.00%
Cash consideration	$ 391,500	£ 310.0
Gain on bargain purchase	56,900
Transaction costs	$ 1,300
Moy Park
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Percentage of equity acquired			100.00%
Cash consideration			$ 301,300
Transaction costs			$ 19,900									$ 200	$ 4,500	$ 15,000					$ 4,500
GNP
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Percentage of equity acquired				100.00%
Cash consideration				$ 350,000
Transaction costs				$ 600												$ 600
Hurricane | Business Interruption | Hurricane Michael
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Catastrophe costs									3,000
Hurricane | Business Interruption | Hurricane Maria
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Catastrophe costs									$ 11,900									$ 15,100
Leasehold Improvements
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Impairment of leasehold improvements											$ 100