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EP21: Pilgrims Europe’s Aaron McKenna on Stocking Density, Performance and Sector Growth
2 Playsin 6 minutes
In this episode of the Poultry.Network podcast, Tom Willings and Tom Woolman talk to Aaron McKenna, Head of Broiler Operations UK at Pilgrims Europe.
Aaron outlines his route into poultry – from a small mixed farm in Northern Ireland with a strong interest in dairy, through a graduate scheme at Moy Park, to his current role.
He also explains how the business supported him through a doctorate focused on Campylobacter, working with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Queen’s University Belfast and AFBI.
The conversation then turns to the move from Moy Park to Pilgrims Europe.
Aaron sets out what the change in name and structure has meant on the ground and how the integration of several large businesses is going.
Recent group results have highlighted the European division as a strong performer, which has helped underline that the new structure is working.
On farming, Aaron talks about Pilgrims Europe’s long history of producing at 30kg/m², particularly in Northern Ireland, and how that experience meant they were more confident than most when the wider GB market moved to lower stocking densities.
He argues that 30kg/m² is a good balance between welfare, efficiency and affordability.
He shares recent figures from 2025, including an average EPF over 470 across three weeks and more than ten flocks exceeding EPF 500, alongside improving FCR and low mortality.
The episode also covers grower relationships and investment.
Aaron describes how liveweight prices and on-farm returns have improved, helping farmers reinvest in sheds and infrastructure.
He gives examples of new builds on contract farms in England and a major redevelopment of a company-owned rearing site, replacing older buildings with modern houses.
On sustainability, Aaron explains how lessons from projects such as Beech Farm – with rainwater harvesting, solar and battery storage, heat exchangers and ground-source heat pumps – are informing what should become “standard spec” on new builds.
He also updates listeners on Pilgrims’ Tully 1 anaerobic digestion plant, which runs on poultry litter and supplies heat and power to local homes, and plans for Tully 2, which will allow all NI broiler litter to be directed into AD and nutrients recovered into fertiliser products.
Looking ahead, Aaron says the priorities for the next 12 months are to maintain current performance levels and to work with planners and regulators to unlock new poultry development, so the sector can continue to invest and keep pace with UK chicken demand, which he estimates is growing at around 5–6% a year.
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Transcript
Intro
Introduction and Guest Introduction
00:00:16
Tom Willings
Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Poultry Network podcast. My name is Tom Willings.
00:00:21
Tom Woolman
I'm Tom Uman.
00:00:23
Tom Willings
And this week we are joined by Aaron McKenna, ah head of Broiler Operations UK for Pilgrims Europe. and Aaron, welcome, welcome to the Poultry Network podcast.
00:00:36
Aaron McKenna
Hey guys, thanks very much for having me on.
00:00:38
Tom Willings
I should declare on I've known Aaron for a little while and on the back of my previous working life and and we had ah a mutual customer and and and very much enjoyed working with Aaron in a kind of a cross party relationship.
00:00:53
Tom Willings
ah format But Aaron, it's great to great to ah reconnect.
Quarterly Results Discussion
00:00:56
Tom Willings
I see pilgrims Pilgrims Europe in the news this week with some phenomenal results, some tremendous results. I think the latest quarterly figures, ah particularly highlighting the European section is doing so well. So great to have you with us to and to talk a bit more about that.
00:01:14
Tom Willings
I should say I've got some feedback this week on a previous couple of episodes that said, It's just me talking, so I'm going to be quiet because this is very much Tom in your wheelhouse being chicken meat rather than egg.
00:01:26
Tom Woolman
did Did you get that feedback then? Because I did ah did put it on the episode. I said that you were talking too much. I'm glad um'm glad it's finally got through to you, Tom.
00:01:35
Tom Willings
Yeah, apologies.
00:01:37
Tom Woolman
That's fine. That's fine.
Aaron's Career Journey
00:01:39
Tom Woolman
ah Maybe we could just start out, Aaron. Give us a little bit of a an idea of of your background, how you got started out in chicken and what's been the path that's that's brought you to where you are now.
00:01:49
Aaron McKenna
Yeah, thanks Tom. um I'll not say i reluctantly got into chicken, but it certainly wasn't the plan. Leaving school or leaving university, I'm from an agricultural background, small family farm in Northern Ireland, but dairy cows were very much my first love.
00:02:07
Aaron McKenna
I'm now married, so probably come can't say that anymore. But but yeah, the the original plan was actually say to go on and do veterinary, believe it or not. um and one or two things happened along the way and lo and behold, I found myself in a grad scheme with Moy Park.
00:02:24
Aaron McKenna
And um yeah, I haven't haven't really looked back from from there. Didn't know a lot of about chicken.
00:02:29
Tom Woolman
did did Did you know about Moy Park then before you joined them?
00:02:33
Aaron McKenna
Not really, to be honest. And that might sound ridiculous given that they're such a huge player in NIA in the agri-food world. But um I suppose there's a 15, 16, 17, 18-year-old
00:02:47
Aaron McKenna
you know, and then going through uni, you don't really be on the radar for for those types of things. So so no, I didn't know a lot about it. And luckily found my way to a grad scheme advert and applied and got in. So yeah, the rest is history, as they say.
Doctorate and Academic Collaborations
00:03:03
Tom Willings
how How long are we talking, Aaron? How many years is that?
00:03:06
Aaron McKenna
I started, I think it was the 5th of August, 2013. So um just a bit over 12 years now in the business.
00:03:12
Tom Willings
Yeah.
00:03:13
Aaron McKenna
ah send yeah, business has been great to me. so
00:03:16
Tom Willings
and we and we're And we're referring to you as Aaron, but actually it's it's Dr. McKenna. you you've You've got a doctorate.
00:03:23
Aaron McKenna
Well, yes, that's probably a secret that i tried to try to keep. But yes, I was very lucky.
00:03:30
Tom Willings
Oh, sorry about that.
00:03:33
Aaron McKenna
No issues. but Well, not a secret, but I don't generally promote it because I don't use it on a day-to-day basis, really. But yes, was very lucky. The business put me through a doctorate.
00:03:45
Aaron McKenna
I got involved in some of our compiler factor work. ah through the late 2010s and that sort of led to the opportunity to do a PhD and four five years later working with London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the guys at Queen's, the guys at AFB, some of our internal guys here, somehow I managed to come away with a doctorate.
00:04:05
Tom Woolman
yeah You're obviously a man that's not afraid of hard work. I think I'm picking up Aaron from that.
00:04:09
Tom Willings
Mm-hmm.
00:04:10
Tom Woolman
um
00:04:10
Aaron McKenna
yeah Yeah, I like a bit of work. um Whenever you grow up on a farm, as probably many of your listeners have or or still on farm, you know, I think it's it's it's a great place to grow up, isn't it? Because it instills a bit of hard work.
00:04:26
Aaron McKenna
There was no PlayStations or Sega Mega Drives or anything in my house. It was, ah you know, feeding calves and bedding houses and stuff like that. So yeah, all good fun, but certainly um stood to me later in life.
00:04:41
Tom Woolman
Yeah.
Company Transition and Restructuring
00:04:42
Tom Woolman
ah Maybe you could tell us a little bit about the evolution then that's been taking place over the past 18 months, I suppose, from Moy Park, which has been ah a huge brand for for decades, but it is now Pilgrims Europe.
00:04:59
Tom Woolman
um Tell us a little bit about what's been happening in the company over the over the past um yeah few months.
00:05:05
Aaron McKenna
Yeah, so as you say, Moy Park's been around for a hell of a long time. um I've only been in the business 12 years, but as it's I think it's in its 85th year in different reincarnations and has been through many, many changes in that time. I think the big change for us, certainly locally and and those people that have operated in the business, um has been the the name has changed above the door for the first time, probably. So we are now Pilgrims Europe.
00:05:34
Aaron McKenna
um And that obviously, ah you know particularly in an agri world, I think change is something that without stereotyping all of the people that work in agriculture, i think it's fair to say that agriculturalists tend not be great with change. um But I think if you look back actually over the 85 year he history, and more recently, the last 20, 25 years in our business, anytime there's been change, whether that be an acquisition or a change in ownership, whatever the case may be, it is always look back on favoratively and a step on in our rich history. So
00:06:15
Aaron McKenna
um I think 18 months in, and you've mentioned the results, Tom, that we're seeing financially, it's clear to see that it's certainly working.
00:06:18
Tom Willings
you
00:06:24
Aaron McKenna
I think our farmers are starting to get used to it. Certainly everybody internally now, you know, you slowly see the Moy Park gilets and shirts and coats phase out.
00:06:34
Aaron McKenna
And you're slowly seeing the Pilgrims Europe, the GLA's and coats and coach some things phase in. So I think everybody's adjusting well. And as I say, the results are are backing that up also.
00:06:46
Tom Willings
And those those results will be a great way of crystallizing that um kind of reformation of the various businesses that are becoming Pilgrims Europe because because you're all um you know celebrating the same success. and And especially when your CEO, your global CEO comes out and and really highlights that it is in fact the European part of this enormous global business for the context for context, anyone who hasn't caught the results, I think the quarterly um performance in US dollars was something like 4.8 billion across the entire group. So we're talking ah ah an absolute leviathan of ah of a business. But again, you know, your CEO calling out the European performance as the as the highlight. So um yeah, that's got to be a great thing for getting people to, to you know, feel really proud as being part of that success.
00:07:36
Aaron McKenna
Absolutely. You know, that that sort of indicates to everybody that that it's working. And, you know, some of the pain, because there does be pain whenever you take three big businesses that are all in their own right with their own boards and their own structures and their own way of doing things. um Whenever you put those together, there does be growing pains. But I think whenever you come through that,
00:07:57
Aaron McKenna
um you know you restructure and you start producing the results which we can clearly see so obviously you mentioned the results that come out this week pilgrims europe results will have come out in the last couple of weeks or or earlier in the month or early late september you know you can clearly see that that it's all been worth it that pain's been worth it and we're starting to deliver and that's certainly what it feels like and in the business as well which is which is great
00:08:23
Tom Woolman
And what's it like going from being ah a chicken business as Moy Park is now to a business which covers various other proteins?
Multi-Protein Strategy
00:08:32
Tom Woolman
I suppose you've got pork, haven't you? and you've got And you've got lamb. I always remember when I worked for Facenda and we were doing chicken and turkey and duck, there was something that was quite exciting about having a business where you'd be rubbing shoulders with people that were doing agriculture and doing farming, but actually doing it slightly differently.
00:08:50
Aaron McKenna
No, it's great actually. The day-to-day very much revolves around chicken for me. That's my role. But, you know, we now have a broader team. I obviously report into our agri-director, Fabio Brancher, and and his team is cross-functional.
00:09:06
Aaron McKenna
You know, there'll be an equivalent to me in the pig team. and And it's great to learn from those guys. You know, our monthly meetings ah are much more rich in conversation. There's a bit more challenge. Yeah.
00:09:18
Aaron McKenna
it It's not just the chicken guy sitting in the corner patting themselves in the back saying how good a job we're doing or or vice versa. you know We have somebody across the room with a slightly different view or a different take. um And to be honest, I don't think we've probably unlocked all of that yet.
00:09:33
Aaron McKenna
you know So I think there's more to go out there in terms of refining those structures, sharing those learnings slightly better. So hopefully we can continue to do that um as as as the the new structures bed in.
Stocking Densities and Market Impact
00:09:49
Tom Woolman
And let's just talk a little bit about the chicken market then and what's been going on, because there's been some fairly seismic shifts in terms of stocking density, what that's done in terms of supply and the ability of the market to to to meet demand.
00:10:06
Tom Woolman
What have you been seeing? How's it been affecting pilgrims? Because I'm conscious that actually you were running farms at 30 kilos a metre squared for quite a while, haven't you? Well before the rest of the industry were.
00:10:19
Tom Woolman
So I think you've probably got quite ah quite an unique um a unique take on this, really.
00:10:25
Aaron McKenna
Yeah, 30 kilos is nothing new for us, you know particularly and in Northern Ireland. um We've been doing that for one of our key customers now for 20 plus years, maybe going on for 30 years now. So um but but that that's not something new. So technically, I think we had a really good head start um because we had done it.
00:10:46
Aaron McKenna
We knew how to do it. We understood stupid the slight subtle differences. And there's not many, but but we did it we did have that knowledge. And I suppose the confidence really in that it worked, that's probably a key, but actually but we had the confidence because we knew the production system. We knew actually whenever we got our farmers, particularly in GB where it was going to be newer to them, once we had a few crops under their belts, we knew that they would see ah the benefits to them at ah you know on the ground level in terms of the production system itself.
00:11:21
Aaron McKenna
But we also knew commercially it would stack up as well. um So i think it's I think if we exclude you know the impacts that's had into the market, and we can chat about those in a wee minute, but if we just purely take it back to farming and um on our collective roots, is this a better production system than than we were at? And and I fundamentally believe it is. I think it's a real sweet spot in terms of animal welfare metrics.
00:11:49
Aaron McKenna
It's a real sweet spot in terms of sustainability and efficiency. And it's a real sweet spot, I think, in terms of offering the consumer something different, but ah in ah in a way that's affordable for many.
00:12:02
Tom Woolman
Yeah, I'm sure, though, it will have also put you under a ah little bit of pressure in terms of um pricing. And ah there'll be there's an awful lot of people at the moment, aren't there, looking over over the garden fence and and seeing what they could be getting elsewhere. but How hard have you had to work so to retain growers and um and take on new ones?
00:12:23
Aaron McKenna
and you know You know, farmers, Tom, and I'm a farmer as well. We're all farmers here, i think. it's You know, farmers like to drive a deal, right? So, and and certainly any of those live conversations, have they've been difficult. But look, you know, we referenced our strong results um as as ah as a business. You know, there's no doubt about it.
00:12:43
Aaron McKenna
at At a farming level, the returns are up significantly as well. and And from my point of view, that's fantastic. That's what we want. That's what we need. really as an industry, we need our farmers to be um earning sustainable incomes that allows them to reinvest into their infrastructure to allow them to deliver things like our move on 30 kilos as well as some of the other things coming down the track at them.
00:13:07
Tom Woolman
and
00:13:08
Aaron McKenna
so
00:13:08
Tom Woolman
And I think the interesting thing at the moment is that, yes, live weight prices have gone up in reaction to what's been going on in terms of farming space. But also there has been a big uplift in terms of performance.
00:13:21
Tom Woolman
Performance is supplying a chunk of that increase in in margin.
00:13:26
Aaron McKenna
Yeah, no doubt about it, our performance. I'm looking forward to to catching up with some industry people over the next a few days and we have a few trips coming up, speaking to some of our colleagues across the UK and broader into Europe actually. like And I'm really keen to see what those guys are doing in performance because our performance through 2025 has just been phenomenal. you know i just We were reviewing the last three weeks, just the last three weeks.
00:13:53
Aaron McKenna
recently for a meeting we we were having this week and our average EPF across the last three weeks was over 470. you know So as an average, that's phenomenal. I think we've had over 10 individual flocks this year that have had EPFs over 500. Our FCRs have reduced month on month on month.
00:14:13
Aaron McKenna
you know So our mortality is really good, health is good. So yeah, performance has certainly been um really, really strong through 25.
00:14:21
Tom Willings
It feels like it was only five minutes ago that we were celebrating 450s as a threshold. and And now you say we're breaking 500. I was going to ask you whether or not the um you know the the extensive history experience you've had of of reduced stocking density has been a competitive advantage for you, A, in terms of you know, optimizing those efficiencies, but B in terms of the the recruitment or retention, you know guiding farms, sharing that knowledge to make sure that everybody gets up to speed by, um you know, harnessing those ah those learnings that you've refined after after such a long period of time. Has that has that been an advantage you've leveraged or um has everybody kind of gone through the same very steep learning curve in that transition?
00:15:07
Aaron McKenna
Well, look, I think there's only, you know, we, as in me, my team, we're not the guys on the ground growing the chicken day in, day out, particularly on our contract growers, where maybe you're trying to yeah get them to come with you and and say that this is the right thing to do.
00:15:22
Aaron McKenna
so um So it's only an advantage to a certain extent, Tom. I would suggest that the advantage for us was was probably twofold. One was in the confidence that we had in the system itself and that knowing this would work.
00:15:35
Aaron McKenna
And I think it's fair to say that
00:15:35
Tom Willings
Mm-hmm.
00:15:36
Aaron McKenna
given where the industry has moved to and what we're seeing, and it it definitely does. think the fact that we were involved in that market move from the very, very beginning, um and you could argue maybe almost a catalyst for that, then obviously that was, you know, we were coming from a position of knowledge.
00:15:55
Aaron McKenna
I think in reality, um what What caught the industry in the hop, and I'll include the Pilgrims Europe or Moy Park business in that, is how quickly and the market has moved whole scale. So absolutely, we expected over a period of time that this would happen.
00:16:14
Aaron McKenna
I think what's really interesting, naturally, is how quickly it has happened. And I think that's caught everybody a bit on the hop.
00:16:22
Tom Woolman
And have you got farmers building new sheds? if you yeah What are you doing to support farmers that want to grow with you?
00:16:29
Aaron McKenna
Absolutely. Yeah, i was just on farm in England on Tuesday there actually. One of our contract growers, um two new poultry sheds and he was just putting the finishing touches to those chicks. Nothing like chick arrival date to put a bit of pressure on to get a few things finished off. So um he was busy finishing those sheds ahead of chick arrival.
00:16:48
Aaron McKenna
So yeah, we we have a really strong pipeline of builds coming along, both active builds with planning past and currently in construction. um and also a strong pipeline of those going towards planning if we can get those passed. I think internally we're also putting our money where our mouth is and and we're starting into a really strong investment program in our company owned sites.
00:17:13
Aaron McKenna
you know So we have just started a redevelopment of our potting farm. um you know completely demolished all of those old 10, probably 1960s, 1950s maybe sheds, and they're going to be replaced with much larger modern sheds and um and unlock a bit more volume for us as well there. So it's great to see that level of investment going into our business and other businesses right across the industry.
Sustainability Efforts
00:17:39
Tom Willings
Aaron, can I ask on that point a question around sustainability? Because there's been all sorts of things in in um press around the um you know the the environmental effects of of of ah the poultry industry. That's not just the the the meat sector, that's eggs as well.
00:17:57
Tom Willings
Moy Park, previously um of of being kind of renowned or celebrated as investors in um sustainable farming. And and um i forget the name of the site, you'll remind me, but, um you know, whether carbon neutrality or low carbon,
00:18:13
Tom Willings
um build project that that that had quite a lot of coverage and i know there's um over in Northern Ireland ah a biogas plant that you've got all of your your manure going into you know powering homes, I forget the number of homes, 6,000 homes or something.
00:18:29
Aaron McKenna
no
00:18:29
Tom Willings
you know Are those sorts of things woven into the new investment and do you see the the learnings from that as um part of creating a blueprint for sustainable farming into the future? What's your take?
00:18:41
Aaron McKenna
Yeah, I think you have to, right? I think some of it has actually become prerequisites for planning now. you know If you think of, and you refer to our our farm at Beach Farm, where we sort of threw all the kits and sink of sustainability tech at it with a view to trying to take it off grid. um So we have water harvesting there and I say that that's almost becoming a prerequisite in some places to get your planning.
00:19:03
Aaron McKenna
We have our solar array and battery storage. We have our heat exchangers, we our ground source heat pumps. So all that technology is certainly there. i think what what we've got to do as an industry now is understand um but what's our new build spec going to be, um you know, generally going forward, which of those technologies are we bringing with us?
00:19:25
Aaron McKenna
you know and I referenced being on a farm this week where two new sheds are being built, you know really neat heat exchangers there. And as we look forward and maybe RHI not going to be there into the future, heat exchangers, I think is going to be really, really key going forward.
00:19:41
Aaron McKenna
And that's something I think the big win for that is that it's retrofitable to a lot of farms.
00:19:45
Tom Willings
yeah
00:19:46
Aaron McKenna
So that's that's a real win. um Yeah, from our perspective, there's
00:19:49
Tom Willings
what What about manure, Aaron?
00:19:52
Aaron McKenna
you When you're in your key as well, and you reference the work that we are doing and the learnings that we're taking in NIA, you know, if you think of NIA, if I go back six, seven, eight years ago, we were probably controlling 20, 30, 40% of our litter that's produced here in NIA across our contract farms.
00:20:12
Aaron McKenna
We're now close on probably controlling and directing 80% of that with 100% of that destined for anaerobic digestion whenever Tully 2 is built.
00:20:23
Aaron McKenna
Tully 1, as we know, as you reference, is operational. That takes a hell of a lot of our broiler litter. It's one of the first ever anaerobic plants built that solely runs on poultry litter. So it's a really, really um neat solution. you know Provides that circular economy piece for us, generating clean energy, and it does heat out of homes believe it or not up around Ballymena where it's positioned and and we're we're moving forward with Tully too and that'll then give us the ability and and a really clear a circular economy piece where it can it can take all of our broiler litter and remove those nutrients from land um and and turn it into something useful
00:21:08
Aaron McKenna
both in terms of energy generation for the local community, but also then being able to capture nutrients at the back end and prill it into fertilizers, whether that be liquid or and or in prill form. So really, really neat solutions. And I think that's key for us.
00:21:23
Aaron McKenna
it's something we've done well as ah as a sector, I think, versus maybe um you know other other areas ah of agriculture where the lack of integration probably limits them from being able to deliver solutions like that.
00:21:37
Tom Willings
Mm-hmm.
00:21:37
Tom Woolman
Yeah, the the advantage of of being a more integrated sector, as you say, is the fact that if you make decisions and you want to move on something that you you can move at speed. So, yeah, something that's definitely very topical at the moment.
Future Goals and Challenges
00:21:50
Tom Woolman
So looking ahead then, Aaron, for the next 12 months, what are what are you focused on? What does the future hold?
00:21:55
Aaron McKenna
Yeah, well, I think we referenced a really good performance that we've through 2025. And really, I'm looking into 2026 and we have a couple of days planned towards the end the year.
00:22:09
Aaron McKenna
refining our plans as we move into 2026. And for me, it'll be a about holding on to that really strong performance. That's ah first and foremost. I think beyond that, you know it's how do we as an industry help unlock planning? Whether that be on in England or Wales, or even in NIA, we have lots of farmers keen to invest.
00:22:34
Aaron McKenna
you know If we take our historical model here operating model in Northern Ireland where you have a mixed farm it's a smaller farm son or a daughter comes home and either they put up a poultry unit to subsidize the income and help that transition from one generation to the next or they have done that 10, 15, 20 years ago and actually their children is now coming home and where another or three or four poultry houses would be added to that farm business
00:23:06
Aaron McKenna
and We're actually struggling to do that just with with planning, but given you know some of the solutions that but we have to the challenges on nutrients, the challenges on ammonia and the science based approach that we are taking to demonstrate you know that that really we should be allowed to get on here and and develop our industry and invest and secure it for the next 50, 60 years.
00:23:28
Aaron McKenna
um You know, it's it's unfortunate that we're challenge we're being challenged around that. so So for me, that's a key priority. One, you know, maintaining the performance as it is. um And two, then how do we unlock further investment on our sector? How do we continue to grow to meet the demand that is 5% or 6% year on year on year now?
00:23:48
Tom Woolman
Great. All right. Well, thank you ever so much for taking the time, Aaron, to to chat with us today. um Yeah, it'd be nice to catch up with you at some point in the future again.
00:23:54
Aaron McKenna
No problem.
00:23:56
Tom Woolman
Thank you.
00:23:57
Aaron McKenna
yes Thanks for having me, folks. Cheers.