About 200 McCain’s workers will lose their jobs when the Tasmanian plant closes next year however Ulverstone vegetable processor Simplot says it will not take on any more vegetable contracts.
About 100 farmers will lose vegetable contracts when McCain moves its bean, pea, carrot, cauliflower and broccoli processing operations to New Zealand next November. Farmers were hoping Simplot could pick up the slack.
But Simplot’s Managing Director Terry O’Brien has told the ABC’s Country Hour, that while the company’s committed to processing in Tasmania, it can not expand.
“Unfortunately the market isn’t driven by supply, the market’s driven by consumer demand,” he said.
“The owners of that demand don’t change because someone shuts a factory.”
“So we won’t have the need for further volume, we’ll still keep selling the volume that we do today.”
Source: ABC