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                                                                      Exhibit 32

             CERTIFICATIONS REQUIRED PURSUANT TO 18 U.S.C. . " 1350

      Solely for the purposes of complying with 18 U.S.C. "1350, I, the
undersigned President and Chief Executive Officer of Pierre Foods, Inc. (the
"Company"), hereby certify, based on my knowledge, that the Annual Report on
Form 10-K of the Company for the year ended March 6, 2004 (the "Report") fully
complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934 and that information contained in the Report fairly presents, in all
material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the
Company.

/S/ NORBERT E. WOODHAMS
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Norbert E. Woodhams
May 17, 2004

      Solely for the purposes of complying with 18 U.S.C. "1350, I, the
undersigned Chief Financial Officer of Pierre Foods, Inc. (the "Company"),
hereby certify, based on my knowledge, that the Annual Report on Form 10-K of
the Company for the year ended March 6, 2004 (the "Report") fully complies with
the requirements of Section 13(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and
that information contained in the Report fairly presents, in all material
respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Company.

/S/ PAMELA M. WITTERS
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Pamela M. Witters
May 17, 2004