DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION (Policies)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 27, 2015
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Consolidated Financial Statements	Consolidated Financial Statements The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements of the Company have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal and recurring adjustments unless otherwise disclosed) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. Operating results for the thirty-nine weeks ended September 27, 2015 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending December 27, 2015. For further information, refer to the consolidated financial statements and footnotes thereto included in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 28, 2014. Pilgrim’s operates on a 52/53-week fiscal year that ends on the Sunday falling on or before December 31. The reader should assume any reference we make to a particular year (for example, 2015) in the notes to these Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements applies to our fiscal year and not the calendar year. The Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of the Company and its majority-owned subsidiaries. We eliminate all significant affiliate accounts and transactions upon consolidation.
Foreign Currency Transactions and Translations	The Company measures the financial statements of its Mexico subsidiaries as if the U.S. dollar were the functional currency. Accordingly, we remeasure assets and liabilities, other than non-monetary assets, of the Mexico subsidiaries at current exchange rates. We remeasure non-monetary assets using the historical exchange rate in effect on the date of each asset’s acquisition. We remeasure income and expenses at average exchange rates in effect during the period. Currency exchange gains or losses are included in the line item Foreign currency transaction loss in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income.
Reportable Segment	Reportable Segment We operate in one reportable business segment, as a producer and seller of chicken products we either produce or purchase for resale.
Revenue Recognition	Revenue Recognition We recognize revenue when all of the following circumstances are satisfied: (i) persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, (ii) price is fixed or determinable, (iii) collectability is reasonably assured and (iv) delivery has occurred. Delivery occurs in the period in which the customer takes title and assumes the risks and rewards of ownership of the products specified in the customer’s purchase order or sales agreement. Revenue is recorded net of estimated incentive offerings including special pricing agreements, promotions and other volume-based incentives. Revisions to these estimates are charged back to net sales in the period in which the facts that give rise to the revision become known.
Book Overdraft	Book Overdraft The majority of the Company's disbursement bank accounts are zero balance accounts where cash needs are funded as checks are presented for payment by the holder. Checks issued pending clearance that result in overdraft balances for accounting purposes are classified as accounts payable and the change in the related balance is reflected in operating activities on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements	Recent Accounting Pronouncements In May 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued new accounting guidance on revenue recognition, which provides for a single five-step model to be applied to all revenue contracts with customers. The new standard also requires additional financial statement disclosures that will enable users to understand the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows relating to customer contracts. Companies have an option to use either a retrospective approach or cumulative effect adjustment approach to implement the standard. In June 2015, the FASB agreed to defer by one year the mandatory effective date of this standard, but will also provide entities the option to adopt the new guidance as of the original effective date. The provisions of the new guidance will be effective as of the beginning of our 2018 fiscal year, but we have the option to adopt the guidance as early as the beginning of our 2017 fiscal year. We are currently evaluating the impact of the new guidance on our financial statements and have not yet selected either a transition approach to implement the standard or an adoption date. In April 2015, the FASB issued new presentation guidance for debt issuance costs, which requires that debt issuance costs related to a recognized debt liability be presented in the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of that debt liability, consistent with debt discounts. An entity should apply the new guidance on a retrospective basis, wherein the balance sheet of each individual period presented should be adjusted to reflect the period-specific effects of applying the new guidance. Upon transition, an entity is required to comply with the applicable disclosures for a change in an accounting principle. These disclosures include the nature of and reason for the change in accounting principle, the transition method, a description of the prior-period information that has been retrospectively adjusted, and the effect of the change on the financial statement line items The provisions of the new guidance will be effective as of the beginning of our 2016 fiscal year. We are currently evaluating the impact of the new guidance on our financial statements. In July 2015, the FASB issued new accounting guidance on the subsequent measurement of inventory, which, in an effort to simplify unnecessarily complicated accounting guidance that can result in several potential outcomes, requires an entity to measure inventory at the lower of cost or net realizable value. Net realizable value is the estimated selling prices in the ordinary course of business, less reasonably predictable costs of completion, disposal and transportation. Current accounting guidance requires an entity to measure inventory at the lower of cost or market. Market could be replacement cost, net realizable value, or net realizable value less an approximately normal profit margin. The provisions of the new guidance will be effective as of the beginning of our 2017 fiscal year. We are currently evaluating the impact of the new guidance on our financial statements. In September 2015, the FASB issued new accounting and presentation guidance for adjustments to provisional amounts recognized in business combinations, which, in an effort to reduce the cost and complexity of financial reporting, requires an acquiring entity in a business combination to recognize adjustments to provisional amounts identified during the measurement period in the reporting period in which the adjustment amounts are determined. The guidance also requires an acquiring entity in a business combination to present separately on the face of the income statement or disclose in the notes the portion of the amount recorded in current-period earnings by line item that would have been recorded in previous reporting periods if the adjustment to the provisional amounts had been recognized as of the acquisition date. The provisions of the new guidance will be effective as of the beginning of our 2016 fiscal year. We are currently evaluating the impact of the new guidance on our financial statements.

Disclosure of accounting policy for revenue recognition. If the entity has different policies for different types of revenue transactions, the policy for each material type of transaction is generally disclosed. If a sales transaction has multiple element arrangements (for example, delivery of multiple products, services or the rights to use assets) the disclosure may indicate the accounting policy for each unit of accounting as well as how units of accounting are determined and valued. The disclosure may encompass important judgment as to appropriateness of principles related to recognition of revenue. The disclosure also may indicate the entity's treatment of any unearned or deferred revenue that arises from the transaction.