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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended September 27, 2003

OR

For the transition period from                      to                     .

Commission File number 1-9273

PILGRIM’S PRIDE CORPORATION

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (903) 855-1000

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes  x  No  ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of Registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 12b-2). Yes  x  No  ¨

The aggregate market value of the Registrant’s Class B Common Stock, $0.01 par value, and Class A Common Stock, $0.01 par value, held by non-affiliates of the Registrant as of March 28, 2003, was $149,180,027 and $28,964,727, respectively. For purposes of the foregoing calculation only, all directors, executive officers and 5% beneficial owners have been deemed affiliates.

27,589,250 shares of the Registrant’s Class B Common Stock, $.01 par value, were outstanding as of November 17, 2003.

13,523,429 shares of the Registrant’s Class A Common Stock, $.01 par value, were outstanding as of November 17, 2003.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the Registrant’s proxy statement for the annual meeting of stockholders to be held January 14, 2004 are incorporated by reference into Part III.

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PILGRIM’S PRIDE CORPORATION

FORM 10-K

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PART I

General

Overview and Recent Developments.

The Company, which was incorporated in Texas in 1968 and reincorporated in Delaware in 1986, is the successor to a partnership founded in 1946 as a retail feed store. Over the years, the Company grew through both internal growth and various acquisitions of farming operations and poultry processors. We are the second largest producer of poultry in both the United States (“U.S.”) and Mexico and have one of the best known brand names in the poultry industry. In the U.S., we produce both prepared and fresh chicken and turkey; while in Mexico, we exclusively produce fresh chicken. Through vertical integration, we control the breeding, hatching and growing of chickens and turkeys and the processing, preparation, packaging and sale of our product lines, which we believe has made us one of the highest quality, lowest-cost producers of poultry in North America. We have consistently applied a long-term business strategy of focusing our growth efforts on the higher-value, higher-margin prepared foods products and have become a recognized industry leader in this market segment. Accordingly, our sales efforts have traditionally been targeted to the foodservice industry, principally chain restaurants and food processors. We have continually made investments to ensure that our prepared foods capabilities remain state-of-the-art and have complemented these investments with a substantial and successful research and development effort. In fiscal 2003, we sold 2.8 billion pounds of dressed chicken and 387.5 million pounds of dressed turkey and generated net sales of $2.6 billion. In fiscal 2003, our U.S. operations accounted for 85.9% of our net sales, with the remaining 14.1% arising from our Mexico operations.

We entered into a stock purchase agreement with ConAgra Foods, Inc. (“ConAgra” or “ConAgra Foods”) to acquire ConAgra’s chicken division through the purchase from ConAgra Foods of all of the issued and outstanding capital stock of four of its wholly-owned subsidiaries. The purchase price will be calculated based on the adjusted net book value of the assets and liabilities of the ConAgra chicken division on the closing date of the acquisition. Based on the ConAgra chicken division’s adjusted net book value as of August 24, 2003 and our stock prices through October 24, 2003, the amount we would record in our financial statements as the purchase price would be approximately $615.4 million plus transaction costs.

After giving effect to the acquisition, we will become the second largest producer in the U.S. chicken industry. The ConAgra chicken division can generally be viewed as consisting of all of ConAgra Foods’ integrated chicken business (including grow-out, slaughter, processing, further processing, rendering, sales and distribution, both in retail and foodservice and related assets and employees). The ConAgra chicken division does not include (and we are not acquiring) certain branded packaged foods operations, including the Butterball, Banquet, Marie Callender’s and Country Skillet further chicken processing and marketing operations and related trade names. We believe that with the ConAgra chicken division’s specialty prepared chicken products, well-known brands, well-established distributor relationships and southeastern United States processing facilities, we will be able to provide customers at every point in the distribution chain

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with the broadest range of quality value-added chicken products and services available in the market today. We believe that ConAgra Foods’ facilities will allow us to expand our reach across the southeastern U.S., which will complement our existing central and mid-Atlantic regional operations in the U.S. In addition, our purchase of the ConAgra chicken division will enable us to provide fresh chicken products to supermarkets and other retail customers throughout the southeastern and midwestern portions of the U.S. The ConAgra chicken division is the largest distributor of chicken products in Puerto Rico and will provide us with a solid foothold in this profitable market. We also believe that the acquisition will present us opportunities to achieve significant cost savings through the optimization of production and distribution facilities and the implementation of a “best practices” approach across all operations, including purchasing, production, logistics and shared services.

The consideration payable to ConAgra Foods under the stock purchase agreement is expected to consist of approximately $289.1 million in cash to be funded by various sources described under Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources” and the issuance of approximately 25.4 million shares of our common stock. The actual dollar amount and number of shares of common stock will be determined by reference to the final adjusted net book value of the ConAgra chicken division on the closing date and the adjusted volume weighted average trading price of our common stock for the period from June 10, 2003 through the fifth trading day prior to the closing date. “Final adjusted net book value” means the combined consolidated stockholders equity of the ConAgra chicken division on the closing date minus approximately $90 million. If the final adjusted net book value was $525.6 million (which was the approximate adjusted net book value of the ConAgra chicken division at August 24, 2003) and the closing date was October 31, 2003 and the adjusted volume weighted average trading price of our common stock was $9.3267 per share (which was the adjusted volume weighted average trading price of our common stock from June 10, 2003 through October 24, 2003), the stock portion of the purchase price would consist of approximately 25.4 million shares of our common stock. The remainder of the purchase price, $289.1 million, would be payable in cash to be funded by various sources described under Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources.” The acquisition would be recorded in our financial statements at $615.4 million plus transaction costs based on the stock component of the purchase price being valued at $12.87 per share (which was the price of our Class A common stock on October 24, 2003). Accordingly, changes in the final adjusted net book value of the ConAgra chicken division, changes in the adjusted volume weighted average trading price of our common stock and changes in the price of our common stock prior to closing will change the amount of cash and common stock payable to ConAgra Foods and the purchase price of the ConAgra chicken division for purposes of our financial statements.

The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including stockholder approval of the issuance of shares of our common stock to ConAgra Foods. We currently expect the transaction to close in late November, 2003. Our proxy statement filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on November 3, 2003, available on its website at http://www.sec.gov, contains additional information regarding the ConAgra chicken division and the pending acquisition.

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In the last two fiscal years, we have been affected by two significant unexpected challenges. First, on March 12, 2002, an outbreak of low-pathogenic avian influenza, a disease contagious to turkey, chicken and other birds, was discovered in Virginia. We destroyed a significant amount of poultry affected as a result of the virus. No new flocks have tested positive for the presence of avian influenza in Virginia since July 2, 2002, and the Company believes that the outbreak has been contained. We currently believe there has been little or no effect on operations since March 2003 and there will be little or no impact on future periods from the outbreak. On June 19, 2002, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman proposed to the Office of Management and Budget that the United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) cover one-half of the total estimated economic loss suffered by the poultry industry and independent growers in Virginia due to the avian influenza outbreak. Secretary Veneman also recommended that the State of Virginia cover the remaining portion. We received $26.6 million in federal compensation in fiscal 2003, which was recorded as “Non-recurring recoveries”; no more federal compensation is expected. We estimate that the negative effects of the virus on our operations were $7.3 million and $26.0 million in fiscal 2003 and 2002, respectively, thus resulting in an estimated net negative effect on operating income of $6.7 million over the two periods combined. No assurances can be given that any state agencies will provide any economic assistance to the poultry growers and producers affected by the avian influenza outbreak in Virginia nor is any such assistance anticipated by us at this time. See Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

Our second challenge occurred in October 2002, when one product sample produced in our Franconia, Pennsylvania facility that had not been shipped to customers tested positive for Listeria. As a result, we voluntarily recalled all cooked deli products produced at the plant from May 1, 2002 through October 11, 2002. No illnesses associated with the Listeria strain in a Northeastern outbreak have been linked to any of our products and no products of the Company have tested positive for the outbreak strain. We carried insurance designed to cover the direct recall related expenses and certain aspects of the related business interruption caused by the recall, and subject to the insurer’s reservation of rights, we received a $4.0 million advance payment on December 5, 2002 from our insurer with respect to the product recall claim. As of September 27, 2003, we have recorded $22.5 million, net of the deductible amount of $0.5 million and the $4.0 million advance payment from our insurer, in recall related expenses as a component of “Current Assets—Trade accounts and other receivables”, which we believe to be due from our insurance carriers. We estimate that the sales at the Franconia, Pennsylvania plant were negatively affected by approximately $82.0 million and operating margins were negatively affected by approximately $65.0 - $70.0 million during the fiscal year ended September 27, 2003. As a result of these losses, the Company’s claim for business interruption and certain product re-establishment costs will amount to approximately $71 million for the period from the date of the recall through October 11, 2003, the 1-year anniversary of the recall and the insurance policy time limitation period for business interruption loss recovery. Aggregating the direct recall expense claim noted above with the anticipated business interruption and product re-establishment costs, our total claim is expected to be approximately $100 million; although our policy limit is $50 million, $4 million of which has been received and $22.5 million of which has been recorded as a receivable from our insurance carrier as of September 27, 2003. Therefore, the continuing effects of the recall on our business after September 27, 2003 will not be covered by insurance. This impact is estimated to continue until the sales of prepared foods turkey products from our Franconia, Pennsylvania plant have been reestablished in the market to pre-recall levels which we currently project to be in the second half of fiscal 2004. In July 2003, we

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took steps to reduce our turkey production levels by approximately 15%, which begins to take effect in early fiscal 2004, in an effort to mitigate future losses. After the effect of the reductions in turkey production described above, we estimate that the continuing effects of the recall will have a negative impact on our business of $20.0 to $25.0 million during the first six-months of fiscal 2004. See Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

Our Website.

Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 are available free of charge on our website at www.pilgrimspride.com, under the “Investors—SEC Filings” caption as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with or furnish it to the SEC.

Strategy.

Our objectives are (1) to increase sales, profit margins and earnings and (2) to outpace the growth of, and maintain our leadership position in, the poultry industry. To achieve these goals, we plan to continue to pursue the following strategies and if acquired, apply these strategies to the ConAgra chicken division:

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In addition, we have a proven history of increasing capacity while improving operating efficiencies at acquired properties both in the U.S. and Mexico. As a result, according to industry data, since 1993, we have consistently been one of the lowest cost producers of chicken in the U.S., and we also believe we are one of the lowest cost producers of chicken in Mexico.

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Products and Markets.

Our chicken products consist primarily of:

(1) Prepared chicken products, which are products such as portion-controlled breast fillets, tenderloins and strips, delicatessen products, salads, formed nuggets and patties and bone-in chicken parts. These products are sold either refrigerated or frozen and may be fully cooked, partially cooked or raw. In addition, these products are breaded or non-breaded and either pre-marinated or non-marinated. Since November 2002, we no longer produce frankfurters; although, we continue to distribute frankfurters processed by others.

(2) Fresh chicken, which is refrigerated (non-frozen) whole or cut-up chicken sold to the foodservice industry either pre-marinated or non-marinated. Fresh chicken also includes prepackaged chicken, which includes various combinations of freshly refrigerated, whole chickens and chicken parts in trays, bags or other consumer packs labeled and priced ready for the retail grocer’s fresh meat counter.

(3) Export and other chicken products, which are primarily parts and whole chicken, either refrigerated or frozen for U.S. export or domestic use, and chicken prepared foods products for U.S. export.

(4) Mexico products, which consist primarily of lower value-added products such as eviscerated chicken and chicken parts and basic products such as New York dressed (whole chicken with only feathers and blood removed) and live birds.

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Our turkey products consist primarily of:

(1) Prepared turkey products, which are products such as turkey sausages, ground turkey, turkey hams and roasts, ground turkey breast products, salads and flavored turkey burgers. We also have an array of cooked, further processed deli products. Since November 2002, we are no longer producing frankfurters; although, we continue to distribute frankfurters processed by others.

(2) Fresh turkey, which includes fresh traypack products, turkey burgers, and fresh and frozen whole birds, as well as semi-boneless whole turkey, which has all bones except the drumsticks removed.

(3) Export and other products, which are parts and whole turkey products, either refrigerated or frozen, for U.S. export or domestic use, turkey prepared foods products for U.S. export or domestic use, and frankfurters produced by others for U.S. export or domestic use.

Our chicken and turkey products are sold primarily to:

(1) Foodservice customers, which are customers such as chain restaurants, food processors, foodservice distributors and certain other institutions. We sell to our foodservice customers products ranging from portion-controlled refrigerated poultry parts to fully-cooked and frozen, breaded or non-breaded poultry parts or formed products.

(2) Retail customers, which are customers such as grocery store chains, wholesale clubs and other retail distributors. We sell to our retail customers branded, pre-packaged, cut-up and whole poultry, and fresh refrigerated or frozen whole poultry and poultry parts in trays, bags or other consumer packs.

The following table sets forth, for the periods beginning with fiscal 1999, net sales attributable to each of our primary product lines and markets served with those products. Consistent with our long-term strategy, we have emphasized our U.S. growth initiatives on sales of prepared foods products, primarily to the foodservice market, because this product and market segment has experienced, and we believe will continue to experience, greater growth than fresh chicken products. We based the table on our internal sales reports and their classification of product types and customers.

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