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JBS Global Ingenuity is designed to give participants tangible experience working with the world’s largest food company. During this two-day event, students will network with industry leaders, contribute their unique ideas, and collaborate with a team to develop a shelf-stable, individually packaged product. The winning team will have their creation added to our global brand portfolio that will be unveiled at the 2026 Reciprocal Meat Conference.

  • Visit the JBS USA and Pilgrim’s Corporate Headquarters
  • Experience the company culture and values first-hand
  • Work alongside a variety of disciplines, including marketing, R&D, QA, and operations in building product strategies
  • Get hands-on in our corporate pilot plant and test kitchens developing value added products.

  • Learn about internship and post-graduation opportunities. 

The event will be held April 16-18, 2026 in Greeley, Colorado.

JBS Global Ingenuity will include the following for individuals selected to attend:

  • $50 registration fee
  • All meals during the event
  • Lodging in Greeley

The only costs to the attendee are the $50 fee and transportation to the event. You must be able to get yourself to Greeley, CO, as well as, to and from the hotel and event location.

JBS Ingenuity Student Event Summary

Lots of fun and competition occur over three days in Greeley, Colorado for the Student Training and Education Program, hosted by JBS/Pilgrim’s. Thirty students travel from all over the country to learn about the industry and career paths that are possible. Staff greets students to tour the JBS/Pilgrims headquarters as well as complete their challenge of bringing real world situations of creating new food items into the hands of students eager to learn more about the industry, while also learning valuable career lessons.

 Students start off the weekend by getting to know their teams and competitors, while networking with a variety of JBS/Pilgrims employees. Students gain insight into the global impact the company aims to make through the products it develops and markets across various regions and countries. After meeting with their teams and learning about their food challenge, students work together to combine different flavor profiles, to create a new flavor profile to incorporate into their product. Teams had the opportunity to pick their protein of choice, beef, pork, or chicken. After picking their protein students create a product that they wished to produce and met with the culinary team at Pilgrim’s to discuss their ideas and figure out the best way to produce a high-quality product.

On the second day of the challenge, students would learn about the safety that would need to take place in the plant to produce their products. After, the teams would break out into the kitchen to start producing their products, half of the team would dedicate their knowledge to the Research and Development side of the challenge, creating prototypes of products, while the other half would focus on the Marketing and Sales side of their product working on the packaging design, labeling and claims, as well as the placement and promotion plan of their finished product.

 On the last day of the challenge, students will create their product, finalize their presentation strategies, and look over all their plans before plating their food and presenting it to a panel of judges. Judges for this event will include different subject matter experts in the product development. Students will bring in their plated product and present all their plans and marketing strategies within a 10-minute time frame and answer any questions that judges may have before being scored on the overall product after being created. The winner of the challenge will be announced at the AMSA 79th annual Reciprocal Meat Conference in Amarillo, Texas, June 21-24, 2026!